


Golden Heart: Reignited

by PrincessVenuschan



Series: Golden Heart [2]
Category: Kingdom Hearts, RWBY
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-18
Updated: 2017-07-18
Packaged: 2018-12-03 14:20:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 22,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11534019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrincessVenuschan/pseuds/PrincessVenuschan
Summary: Months have passed since the end of the Vytal Tournament.Yang finds herself back in her room after waking up from a strange dream. She only had the faintest inkling that this dream would be the start of something much greater, the beginnings of a new path... The path of a Keyblade Wielder.





	1. Chapter 1

Yang felt... Heavy. She wasn't sure where she was. But she very clearly felt something underneath her. "Hello? Anyone else here?" Yang asked. She looked around. Then down at her hands. Ember Celica was nowhere to be seen. She focused more on what was below her, trying to get her bearings. She was standing on a large, elaborate looking platform in the middle of a void, with a sort of stained glass look. But the images on it were what caught her attention. Taking up the center, was an illustration of her. Smaller portraits around the illustration's head were of Ruby, Weiss, and Blake. Around the edges of the platform, her symbol was emblazoned into smaller circles, along with illustrations of Ember Celica. She tapped her foot on the ground. "Weird... What's going on here? Last I remember, I lost my body… Talked to Ruby, scared Weiss and Jaune out of their wits…”  
  
" _So much to do, so little time..."_  She nearly jumped. "W-Who said that?! Who are you?!" The mysterious voice said,   _"Take your time. Don't be afraid. "_  Yang scratched her head. This voice didn't seem... Hostile. _"Now, step forward. Can you do it?"_  She wasn't quite sure why she went along with it, but she did. The moment she took a few steps forward, three large pedestals emerged from the ground. One to the left, one directly in front of her, the other to her right. Floating above each was was a sword, a shield, and staff respectively. The sword wasn't anything too fancy, it had a red gem in the guard with a symbol in it. The shield was black and red, adorned with the same symbol. Then she turned towards the staff. It was green, with gold trimmings at each end. The top of it was blue, shaped like the same symbol. _"Power sleeps within you... If you give it form... It will give you strength. Choose well."_  
  
  
As she walked up to the staff and grabbed it, the voice spoke to her again. _"The power of the mystic. Inner strength. A staff of wonder and ruin. Is this the power you seek?"_  She shook her head and put it back, then walked over to the shield. She wasn't quite sure what "power of the mystic" meant. She picked up the shield. _"The power of the guardian. Kindness to aid friends. A shield to repel all... Is this the power you seek?"_  Yang said with a chuckle as she let go of the shield, "Hey, it's a bit soon to be asking me that. Let me see all three choices, then ask!" Finally, she walked towards the sword.   _"The power of the warrior. Invincible courage. A sword of terrible destruction. Is this the power you seek?"_  Yang's eyes widened a bit. The power of the warrior... Invincible courage... She knew her choice at that very moment. She nodded, and the sword vanished from her hand. She merely looked at her hand in shock. _"Your path is set. What will you give up in exchange?"_  She glanced at the shield. "The power of the guardian... Kindness to aid friends..." She mumbled to herself. She looked down at the pictures of Weiss and Blake on the platform. And then to Ruby. Her choice was clear at that moment. Something about giving up the power of the guardian just seemed... Wrong to her. She made her way to the staff. The voice repeated what it said about the staff before.   _"You give up this power?"_ Yang nodded. The staff vanished from her hand. _"You've chosen the power of the warrior. You've given up the power of the mystic. Is this the form you choose?"_  Yang once more nodded. A stairway of light appeared in front of her, leading up to a similar platform.  
  
Once she got there, she looked down. This one was focused around Team JNPR, with Pyrrha being the focus, and small portraits of Jaune, Ren, and Nora by her head. The sword reappeared in her hand. _"You've gained the power to fight."_  Two small, pitch black creatures with beady yellow eyes appeared at her feet. Something in her head immediately told her they were hostile. She kicked the one closest to her away, and punched the one leaping at her with her left hand. The other one lunged towards her, and she swung the sword downwards, causing it to vanish in a puff of black smoke. The one that was left sunk down into the ground in a dark puddle, before it vanished. Another set of stairs appeared. “What… Is this place? It’s like a dream, but at the same time… Something different.” She said as she took the steps to the next platform.

  
This platform was patterned off Beacon Academy. All around the edges, were circles with illustrations of her classmates at Beacon. And in the center of the platform was an illustration of Ruby, seemingly sleeping.  The illustrations by her head were of Zwei, her father, and Uncle Qrow. She looked down at the illustrations fondly. _"The closer you get to light, the greater your shadow becomes."_  She heard the voice say. Her shadow extended behind her, before seemingly becoming separate from her. From her shadow, a massive, horrible monster rose up. It was pitch black, had tentacle-like hair that covered most of its face, besides its glowing yellow eyes, and it had a heart-shaped hole in its chest. She leaped up to the monster's shoulders, and started punching it. She tossed the sword down, only to soon wish she hadn't, because her punches weren't doing a thing to it. It merely turned its head towards her, and flung her off its shoulder. She landed next to the sword. The monster once more went for a punch. She rolled out of the way, grabbing the sword. It's hand seemed stuck in the ground... This was her chance. She ran up its arm, once more to its face, and starting swinging the blade at it wildly. Before long, the monster began to sink into a dark circle in the ground. It flailed around, causing Yang to fall off. She landed in the circle.

 

As the monster vanished completely, she felt herself being dragged into the darkness. She attempted to get out, basically clawing at the edge of the dark circle. Before long, her chest was submerged, and she found it getting more difficult to breathe. _"But don't be afraid."_  The voice said as she was trying desperately to free herself, to get out of this. As her vision faded out, obscured by the darkness, the voice said,  _"You hold the mightiest weapon of all."_  She heard another voice. A familiar one. "Yang? Yang?! WAKE UP!"  
  
  
Within almost an instant, she found herself in bed, her father shaking her. She gasped for breath, looking around. She was back in her bedroom in Patch. She could feel her father's hands on her shoulders. She looked down at her ams. They were still solid, like they were in that dream. "D-dad? H-how am I here?" Her mind flashed back to her last memory before she lost her body. Before she could think on the matter any further, her father, Taiyang, pulled her in for a hug. "At this point, I don't care how... I'm just glad you're with us again..."  
  
"So then Ozpin gets up and gives his usual speech, trying not to laugh at the fact Qrow was only in his underwear the entire time." Oobleck and Port laughed at the memory, when they saw Yang and Taiyang come into the kitchen. "I never thought I'd be so happy to see either of you." Yang stated, seeing her old teachers from Beacon. She sat at the table, turning to face Taiyang.

 

 

 "Dad... What do you know about swords?" Taiyang, grabbing some coffee for Oobleck, dropped the mug he was carrying on his foot. "W-what?" Even Port seemed surprised, speechless in fact. It was finally Taiyang who said something. "You've never struck me as the type of person to ever use anything other than your hands, feet, and Ember Celica. What's with the sudden interest?" Yang sighed, "It might seem a bit silly, but... I... I had the strangest dream... I didn't have Ember Celica in it.” Taiyang looked at his daughter skeptically. “So what, you just, randomly had a sword?” He asked. Yang shook her head. “Not randomly, I just... Well, I sort of chose the Sword, the other two options were a staff and shield.”

 

For what was supposedly a dream, the memory of it was surprisingly vivid. She recounted the final fight with the monster. “So uh... I guess what I'm trying to say is…” She looked into her dad’s eyes. “Got any pointers?” Taiyang smiled. "Sure. Come on.”


	2. Chapter 2

It was later that same afternoon. "What happened to Ember Celica?" Qrow asked, observing Yang swinging the fake sword. "Gone." She replied simply. "But you can make it again, can't you?" Yang shook her head. "It's been years since Signal. I could if I had at least one of them, but I doubt I'll be getting it back, and there's no way I can recreate it 100% from scratch. Besides, it's... Just this feeling I've got. Like... This is something I need to learn. I just don’t know why yet." She said as she swung the training sword again. She'd been training all day so far with her father and Uncle Qrow, Oobleck and Port monitoring her progress. Even Ozpin showed up to check up on her.

  
“Miss Xiao Long… Is something wrong?” Port asked, raising an eyebrow at Yang. Taiyang followed up. “I’ve noticed it since this morning… Your movement overall is sloppy.” Yang exclaimed, “Me? Nah, I’m fine! It’s just, I’m not used to using something other than my fists, that’s all!” To her dismay, her bluff was almost immediately called. “Yang, even in regards to your fists and normal fighting style, you were sloppier than usual.” Yang looked down at the ground, like she’d just been caught skipping class at Signal. “Truth is… I guess I’m just a little bit exhausted, that’s all. I mean, I basically came back from the dead!” This one seemed to work. “I don’t know why, but I feel… Off for some reason. Like, my body is- Nah, I’m overthinking it, it’s just been a while since I’ve had a body, that’s all. Of course I’m not gonna feel 100% like myself.” She rationalized.

 

"Alright, you ready for another round?" Taiyang asked as Yang got into a battle stance. "Bring it on." She replied with a smirk. Taiyang easily parried her strike, causing her to stagger back. Just as he went for a sideways swing, Yang jumped away, charging at Tai with a lunging strike, which he barely dodged. Yang smiled, her next move being an upwards strike. The next thing Taiyang knew, the training sword he was using was sliced right through.

  
It was then he noticed Yang was no longer holding the sword she was given, but rather, something entirely new. Oobleck removed his glasses, almost speechless. Taiyang at first focused on the flabbergasted Oobleck and Port, before focusing on Yang's new equipment. The first thing that popped out to him was its overall shape, being shaped like a key. The next thing was its appearance. Its design was very heavily based off Ember Celica, and as he looked at it, he noticed below the handle was a chain, and at the end, a token resembling the emblem she incorporated into her outfit.

 

  
"Um... What?" He said, as Yang looked at her hand. She raised it upwards, inspecting it closely. "Is this… Is this what I think it is?" Ozpin put down his mug, and smiled. "I never thought I'd see the day. One of my students, chosen by the Keyblade..." Qrow, who had been focused on his bottle of Mistralian rum, somehow had the good sense to swallow what was in his mouth rather than spit it all in Ozpin's face. "Yang? A Keyblader?!"

"Aw, I'm not really surprised." Came a voice unfamiliar to Yang. Ozpin cleared his throat as she turned around. "Ah, miss Xiao Long, this is an old acquaintance of mine, Mickey. King Mickey, actually. He's actually the one who brought you here." Yang exclaimed, "Wait, you... Brought me here? Where was I then?!" Mickey crossed his arms thoughtfully. "Well... I think she should be the one to tell ya." He said, as he motioned towards the front door of the Xiao Long household. It practically flew from the hinges, as Ruby practically charged into Yang, tears in her eyes. "I-It's really you... In person!" She said, nuzzling Yang's face. "Ruby..." Yang said as she embraced her sister. Zwei barked happily, wagging his tail and leaping up onto Ruby's shoulders. A clear vantage point for licking Yang's face. "Aw, I missed you too, Zwei! So, Ruby, you’re the one who found me?" Ruby broke out of Yang's hug, readying herself to recount the tale.

 

  

* * *

 

 

 

  
_Ruby looked up into the sky, as she held onto the Star Shard. She’d had it for quite a while now, having found it in her Beacon locker shortly after Yang’s disappearance. She looked around. "First Blake, then Yang... Now I don’t have Weiss with me. Looks like I'm all alone now." She tossed the Star Shard behind her shoulder. "Looking for someone?" She turned in the direction of the voice. "I guess" she said dejectedly._

_“I see you have a Star Shard, is that how ya got here?" She sighed, "Yeah..." She looked down a bit. "Hey, your majesty." She said, her tone unchanging. She looked down at the Star Shard. "sorry, I was just thinking about Yang, and... How I really wish I could see her in person one last time... And suddenly, here I am, all alone." Mickey smiled. "If that's why you're here, then... Follow me. There's a hole in the wall in this part of town that leads to an old mansion.”_

_Ruby and Mickey made their way to the hole in the wall, and through the forest. It was mostly empty, save for a few Heartless. They managed to reach the Old Mansion, and Ruby's eyes widened when she saw someone sitting by the gate. Ruby reached for Crescent Rose, only for Mickey to summon his Keyblade, holding it out to the side in front of Ruby. "Wait, that's not Mayu! I think... I think that's actually your sister." Yang, in her normal outfit, seemed to be in a trance. Unresponsive, but definitely alive, as she tilted her head up, looking at Ruby and Mickey. She stood up, only to collapse._

  
_Ruby sped over to her to catch her before she hit the ground. " Gosh, she seems exhausted..." Mickey stated. "Ya know, I get the feeling Mayu's responsible for this…" Ruby looked at the king incredulously. Then she saw Mickey looking up towards the roof of the mansion. She looked in the direction he was facing, and saw Mayu in a black coat, on the roof of the old mansion._

_Ruby once again got out Crescent Rose. “MAYU!” She would recognize his face anywhere… It was the face of her sister. Yang’s face. "Call me sappy." He said. "But honestly? I know what it's like having a sibling you care about.” He said, putting a hand to his chest. “As for how..." He slyly put a finger to his mouth. "My little secret." A dome of darkness covered him, before it vanished, leaving no trace he was there. Mickey turned towards Ruby. “You oughta get her home. I’ll search the mansion. See if I can find anything on his, little secret.” Ruby shouted out, “Wait!” Ruby’s star shard started glowing. She clutched onto Yang, as it activated, transporting her back to Remnant._

 

  
"So... Yang... How did you end up there?" Ruby asked. "Well... I remember... Basically not really doing much after the last time I visited you. Soon after that, I tried showing up to you again, but I found myself being drawn towards a light... The last thing I remember, I was in a mansion, and I vaguely remember seeing you two. Everything after that's a blank." Taiyang said with a sigh, "It's been three days. I was beginning to think you were gonna be sleeping all week!"

 

Yang chuckled, before remembering the first thing Mickey said. "wait, you said you weren't surprised by me getting this thing." She said, holding out her Keyblade for emphasis. Mickey asked, "You're here, right?" Ruby exclaimed, "That's right! Not only that, but... I was really sad when I learned Mayu took your body. But then, you managed to find a way to come and cheer me up in my dreams, even though you no longer had a body." Mickey nodded, "Sure, you're physically strong... But I think you've proven that your heart is even stronger." Yang smiled, her Keyblade vanishing from her hand in golden embers. Ruby could barely contain her excitement. “Oh my gosh, it really is a Keyblade! You have a Keyblade, just like Terra! Oh man, you’re gonna be so awesome!” Ruby brought out Crescent Rose. “You’re gonna be all like, FIRE! THUNDER! BLIZZARD!” She exclaimed, pointing Crescent Rose in random directions. She put Crescent Rose away, getting out her Scroll. “Oh man, do we have stories to tell…”

 

The three lquickly ended up losing track of time, and soon, the sun was setting in Patch. Weiss had just arrived, hearing the news of Yang’s return. All three of them were standing in a circle. Weiss raised Myrtenaster and Ruby raised Crescent Rose as Yang summoned her Keyblade. She raised it to meet Crescent Rose and Myrtenaster. “No matter what happens.” Weiss said. Ruby nodded, finishing for her. “We’ll be a team forever.” Mickey looked at Weiss expectantly, as did Ruby and Yang. Weiss groaned, saying a phrase that Mickey had suggested, “All For One… And One For All.” After moments of silence, Ruby exclaimed, “So, Yang, you gonna give Blazing Celica a test drive soon?.” Yang raised an eyebrow. “ _Blazing Celica_? Did you seriously just name my weapon for me?” She asked. She thought on it for a moment, nodding. “That’s… Actually not a bad name at all. I Iike it.” She said fondly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeeeeah, you might've caught some mentions of what Ruby and the others were dong off-screen.
> 
> Well, fun fact, this entire thing started out as a collab project, but, well, I sort of went my seperate way, since, uh... Nothing was really getting done. Now, one of the people involved was a big Sailor Moon fan. 
> 
> Who knows, maybe I might actually get to writing that particular story arc, but Ruby basically summed it up.


	3. Chapter 3

So, this is Menagerie, huh?" Yang asked herself. The only inhabitants of Menagerie seemed to be Faunus. Nonetheless, Ironwood contacted Yang personally giving her a solo mission to Menagerie to deal with some monsters. "It seems like such a peaceful place." Not even 5 seconds after that, there was a scream. "SOMEONE! HELP! MONSTERS!" Yang said simply, "I just had to jinx it..."

 

As she got to the source of the commotion she heard something familiar. A chanting of "Never Miss a Beat." Only it sounded far more frantic, and panicked. Just as soon as she turned around, she saw Neon Katt, being chased by Heartless. Neoshadows to be exact. A large group of them, around ten or so.

 

 

 

  
Yang took a fighting stance, only to realize she no longer had Ember Celica. "Oh, right..." She swung her right arm to the side, fist clenched. Accompanied by a swirl of embers, her Keyblade, Blazing Celica, appeared in her right hand.

A Neoshadow swiped at Neon's ankle, causing her to trip and fall on her back. As the swarm closed in on her, Yang leaped into action, landing in front of Neon. "You okay?" She held out her hand, helping Neon up.

 

Together, the two managed to drive off the Neoshadows with ease. Once they had defeated the last one, Neon smiled and turned towards Yang. "Thanks. For a second there, I thought my partying days were going to end forever! But I gotta say, I never expected to run into you again so soon! Where's the Ice Que-" for the first time, Neon was able to get a closer look at what Yang was holding. "Whoa... When did you get that?" She gently took Blazing Celica out of Yang's hand. "What's this thing even supposed to be anyways?" She barely had a chance to inspect it when it dissipated into orange sparks, appearing once more in Yang's right hand. Yang held it up, showing the handle to Neon. "This? Well... It's a real long story." Just as Yang was about to begin, they were approached by a rather... Large and intimidating looking man.

 

 

  
"Are you the one who drove off those creatures?" Yang looked up at the mountain of a man. "Oh, Ghira, no need to act all tough.” A Faunus woman approached the two. Now that Yang got a look at the two, they did sort of resemble Blake a bit. "I'm Yang Xiao Long, and this is Neon Katt!" She said suddenly. The man known as Ghira raised an eyebrow. "Yang Xiao Long?" The woman smiled, "Aren't you Blake's teammate?" Yang nodded. "So, how do you know Blake? Are you guys, like, her parents or something?" The large man nodded. “That we are. I am Ghira. I’m the chieftain of Menagerie. And this is my wife, Kali.” Yang exclaimed, “Wait, you really are her parents?!” Kali waved a hand playfully, "Oh, where are our manners? Out here isn't really the best place to hold a conversation."

"So, um... Miss Belladonna..." Yang said nervously, causing Miss Belladonna to laugh. "Oh please, sweetie, just call me Kali." Yang took a sip of tea. "I'm not much of a tea person, but this is some really good stuff!" Even Neon seemed to be enjoying it. Kali smiled warmly at the praise. "Thank you, thank you. But, from what I saw from the Vytal Tournament footage, you used gauntlets and not... Whatever it is you're using now." Neon pointed out, "Yeah, now that it's been mentioned, where did you even get that, anyways?" Yang tugged at the collar of her shirt. How was she going to explain this? "It's a long story..."

 

* * *

 

  
"That's... Quite the story." Kali remarked as soon as Yang finished. "So, that's a Keyblade, huh?" Blazing Celica was on the tea table, placed there by Yang for the others to look at. "Actually, Neon. What were you doing here?" Neon took a sip of her own tea. "Well, I was visiting my grandparents... And just as I was leaving, those monsters came and attacked me! I mean, there was this reeeeally big one, but I managed to take it down myself. I thought it was over, but then those other ones started chasing after me, and after that, well, you know the rest, because that's when I bumped into you!" Yang breathed a small sigh of relief, knowing at least Neon's relatives were okay.

  
The entire rest of the day was spent talking. About Blake, Menagerie, Yang's family, Team RWBY, Neon's family, whatever came to mind. By the time Yang left the house, the sun was setting in Menagerie. "Kali? I'll find Blake. Me, Ruby, Weiss-" Neon cut her off, adding, "And me!" Yang turned towards Neon. "You mean, you'll help us?" Neon exclaimed, "Of course! We're friends, right?" Yang grinned, "That we are... I better hurry, dad's not gonna be happy if I'm not home by nightfall." Kali exclaimed, "There's no way you're going to get back home that fa-" Yang grinned. Remembering the videos Ruby showed her the other day, she tossed her Keyblade into the air, and leaped upwards while her Keyblade looped back to her previous spot, transforming in mid air. By the time it was under her, it had taken on a shape similar to Bumblebee, only hovering, and without wheels. "Woah... That... Is SO COOL!" Neon beamed, jumping up and down. Yang grinned slyly as she got on her Keyblade Glider, motioning for Neon to jump on. She did so, holding on tightly as it took to the skies.

  
As Yang flew towards Patch, there was a nagging feeling of guilt in her heart. She wondered if she did the right thing by lying to Blake’s parents and withholding the truth of what happened to Blake from them. She shook her head. They were wonderful people. The truth would only hurt them… Maybe she would tell them someday, but not anytime soon.


	4. Chapter 4

Yang woke up to find Neon cuddled next to her on the couch, and the doorbell ringing. She shambled to the door with a yawn. As soon as she could get a look at who it was, she opened it. She became a bit more awake as her eyes opened. "Wait a minute... You're... You're that Terra guy from that video Ruby showed me!"

Terra asked, "Video?" Yang held her arm out, Blazing Celica appearing in her hand in a flash of embers. "It's how I learned how to do that thing where you can fly on your Keyblade." She said proudly. Terra looked at her incredulously. "Just from seeing it once? Then again... Ven did it on his first try too if I remember correctly... So, where's Ruby?" Yang sighed, "Visiting mom's grave. Don't worry, she does it quite often, she can handle herself. She prefers to be alone when she does so anyways. So, what brings you here? Here to give me tips on how to be a master?" Terra remarked, "You say that like you expect to be a True Master overnight..." Yang smirked, "What? Four whole years of Signal, and Vytal Tournament Champion doesn't count for anything?"

Terra chuckled. "Well, I have a major tournament win too, but you don't hear me bragging about it. You still have a long ways to go before you're a True Keyblade Master... First of all, I think it's about time you started working on learning some magic." He said as he walked out the door, Yang following him. Neon stretched on the couch and yawned as she got up. "Funny how this couch is comfier than the bed I got at Atlas Academy." She remarked.

 

 

  
Meanwhile, Ruby was traveling through the forest towards her mother's grave. "It's so peaceful..." There hadn't been a sign of any Grimm whatsoever, and she was certain she was halfway there already. She moved her hand towards Crescent Rose as she heard the snarl of a Beowolf. She turned around, ready to strike, but she was caught by surprise when... Something came out of the ground right behind it.

 

"Okay... That's... New." She said. She gripped Crescent Rose tightly, but before the Beowolf could even move, the claw thing suddenly lunged at the Beowolf, and seemed to swallow the Beowolf whole. Ruby almost dropped Crescent Rose from the shock. As it was, her face was already pale, her silver eyes dilated. "It... It eats Grimm?" As soon as it finished its meal, Ruby switched Crescent Rose to its sniper form, and she shot at what she assumed was the head as rapidly as she could, until it vanished in a puff of black smoke.

Ruby's breathing was ragged and almost panicked. She looked around, making sure there were no more in the vicinity. When she was sure there weren't any others, she returned Crescent Rose to its scythe form, then folded form. "What kind of thing would eat creatures of Grimm?" She shrugged her shoulders. "Then again, I guess I don't have to worry about Grimm any more, so, that's nice."

Whatever those things were, they basically cleared out the forest, as she hadn't seen a single Grimm other than the Beowulf from earlier. Soon, she finally reached her destination. A gravestone. On it, were the words "Summer Rose. Thus Kindly I Scatter." But something else caught her attention. An overgrown purple bulb of some sort. The ground started shaking as the bulb rose upwards... Revealing it was a part of something.

  

 

"W-what?!" The first thing that caught her eye was the symbol on the coffin. She thought back to the creatures she fought in the forest in Twilight Town. Mickey offhandedly mentioned they were called Heartless. "W-why is that thing here?!" Ruby gripped Crescent Rose tightly, bringing it out in its scythe form. The bulb on the Heartless, Leechgrave, puffed out a purple mist. Ruby went for a jumping strike on the bulb.

She aborted her attack once she breathed in the fumes. Once she landed, she coughed. "T-this stuff is poisonous?!" She changed Crescent Rose to its sniper form, but as she took aim, one of the claw creatures from earlier came out of the ground behind her. She turned all her attention towards it, firing until it vanished in a puff of black smoke. "So... That thing is the source of those claw things? Oh boy..." But she wouldn't back down. This was her mother's gravesite. She wouldn't let this monster tarnish this place... And if she died in the process, so be it. But as it was, any attacks on the thing would just mean getting her lungs full of the poison. She lined up another shot, but the coffin caught her eye. "Maybe... Just maybe..." She thought. What if the bulb wasn't where she was supposed to be aiming. She steeled herself, almost working herself up into a fury, as she thought of this creature's very presence desecrating the gravesite of Summer Rose.

She sped forward in a flurry of rose petals, right for the coffin. She rapidly swung at it, a crimson flurry of rage, even as poisonous mist spewed out from the top. "GO AWAY!" She screamed, practically warping around to dodge blue hands that came out the sides of the coffin to counterattack. It wasn't long until the Leechgrave seemingly gave out, fading into darkness as its roots gave out... As did the chains around the coffin, which was all that was left behind.

Ruby sat down, holding her breath as the poisonous mist cleared. Once it was finally gone, she gasped for air, leaning on the coffin. She immediately took her hands off of it, backing away like she'd just touched a hot stove. She had a horrible feeling that what she'd just fought was only a prelude. She nervously opened the coffin, ready for whatever was inside... Or so she thought. Inside of it, was the body of her mother, Summer Rose. "M-Mom?" She said meekly. Strange... She'd been dead for so long, and yet here she was, in practically perfect condition, with her signature white coat. But Ruby's emotions prevailed over all sense of reason. She touched Summer's hand. She let her mind wander, remembering the warmth these hands once provided. She closed her eyes contentedly, unaware of the dark aura building up around Summer.

Just as she took her hands off, Summer started to sit up. She opened her eyes. "M-mom?" Ruby said, seeing her mother up. "Y-you're really alive... Mom!" She exclaimed happily.

A black scythe appeared in Summer's hand in a cloud of darkness. "Mom?" Darkness shrouded the sky, as Summer gave her daughter a cold stare. The same Emblem as the one on the Leechgrave's coffin appeared on the back of her white cloak. She burst forward in a dark streak, leaving behind black rose petals. Ruby barely had enough to time to duck under the horizontal swing. Summer's gaze was lifeless and cold, as if she didn't recognize her own daughter.

Ruby yelled pleadingly, "Mom, it's me, Ruby! Your daughter?" Summer didn't respond, the very wind carrying darkness on it. It seemed to carry words within its howls, words perfectly audible to Ruby. "You're all alone... No one cares enough to come save you." She heard the voices of so-called friends and family either dismiss her, or outright belittle her. As Ruby kneeled down on the ground, Summer walked towards her. Ruby felt her mind starting to slip, and she looked upwards to see Summer going for a swing that would embed the scythe's blade into Ruby's chest. ruby didn't bother to move, but to her surprise, a Glyph stopped Summer's blade from dealing the finishing blow. Ruby dashed back with her semblance, leaving behind a flurry of red rose petals. "w-was that..." Her questions were soon answered as Weiss leaped off another of her Glyphs, launching herself towards Ruby. "Ruby!" She shouted as she picked Ruby up and carried her in her arms. "W-Weiss... You..." Ruby said, looking at her rescuer. Weiss set Ruby down, getting into a fighting stance. "Weiss... Please don't, I can get through to her, I just need-"

Summer charged at the both of them, scythe ready to swing, Weiss shooting blasts of ice dust from her hands. Summer continued her charge right through them. Both Ruby and Weiss jumped to opposite sides, and for the first time, Ruby could see the symbol on Summer's cloak. "No..." Ruby whimpered upon seeing it. Weiss, acting quicky, shot a blast of Fire Dust at Summer's back. Summer recoiled forward, but didn't make a single sound. "RUBY! UNLOAD EVERYTHING YOU'VE GOT INTO THIS THING! IF IT MANAGES TO GET INTO PATCH, EVERYONE WILL BE IN DANGER! WE HAVE TO STOP IT HERE!" Weiss shouted. Ruby nodded weakly, preparing to jump towards Summer. She found she jumped off a glyph that appeared at her feet, increasing her momentum significantly. She whimpered, "Sorry mom..." She felt a strange warmth fill her, and a familiar voice seemed to speak directly to not her mind, but her heart. "It's okay... Go for it."

Just as she was about to pass Summer, she swung... Leaving a massive gash on Summer's back, as well as slicing through her white cloak. The stray cloth seemed to have some sort of black barbs on its under side. The stray cloth faded into darkness as Summer's eyes slowly closed, and she fell over backwards. The hood suddenly came off on its own... Underneath it? A small, scuttling, buglike creature, which was no doubt the cause of Summer's attack. It attempted to scurry away from Ruby and Weiss, before Yang finally arrived, bringing Blazing Celica down on it, causing it to vanish in a puff of darkness. Ruby closed her eyes, and she thought she heard her mother's voice. "I'm so proud of you Ruby. You've grown up so much... Please. I want you to bury me. Bury me somewhere that's close to your heart."

Yang turned towards Ruby, asking, "D-did you hear that? Mom..." Ruby nodded, almost immediately getting what Yang was referring to. "Y-yeah. But... Where?"

It didn't take long for a decision to be reached. "They do always say, home is where the heart is." Yang said with a sad chuckle as she dug Summer's new grave. Taiyang had prepared a new coffin for her, seeing as he had Yang cut the old one into pieces. "I don't trust that thing anymore..." He said before she had done so. Yang looked at the woman she'd known as her mother one last time. She looked so peaceful, and it was easy to see where Ruby inherited her appearance from, as Summer was almost the spitting image of Ruby.

Terra sat down on a stump, thinking as Ruby explained what had happened. "i'm guessing that's why. It's weighed so heavily on your heart, you draw a lot of the native monsters." Ruby replied, "What do the Grimm have to do with-" she then remembered... The clawed tentacles that were eating the Grimm were coming from the plant monster that had Summer's coffin. "W-was that monster doing something to her while she was in there?"

Terra looked over at Summer's body, in pristine condition. "Most likely. She's been dead for years from what I've heard, and yet she looks perfectly fine. My guess is it was restoring her body with the powers of darkness... But in order to undo so many years of damage, it would need a lot of it." Ruby exclaimed, "T-That must've been why it was eating Grimm!" She was tempted to ask why the monster specifically chose Summer's grave, but Terra answered it before she even asked. "As for why it was there? If I had to guess, sort of like the native monsters, it must've been drawn to you." Yang turned towards Terra, asking, "You mean... It was drawn to Ruby's sadness?" Terra nodded, leaving Ruby to walk back into the house.

"Ruby? Are you okay?" Weiss asked, getting a glass of water. "You know what?mi actually... Feel a little better. Just in general. Like, some kinda weight's been lifted off my shoulders." Weiss sat down, nodding. "That's good." She coughed, her breath cold as ice. "W-Weiss! Have you been taking your medicine?" Weiss shot back defensively, "Of course I have! S-sometimes stuff like this happens! And believe me, sometimes it's fire. That's not fun." There was a moment of silence before Weiss spoke up again. "Oh, that's right! Why I went after you in the first place! I've got some huge news from Winter." She took out her scroll, showing Ruby a picture. "Blake's been sighted in Vale." She stated.

 

 

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

Ruby and Weiss were on a private airship to Beacon, wondering why Ozpin had called them. "The Semester is over... Unless... Oh boy..." Ruby clutched her head. "I don't like this..." She turned towards the window and waved, exclaiming, "Hi Yang!" Weiss pushed Ruby aside to get a view. There was Yang, flying on her Glider. She waved to Ruby, before zooming towards Beacon. "You know what? I could probably beat the airship there even if I take another lap..."

Indeed, by the time Ruby and Weiss arrived at Ozpin's office, Yang was already there. "Sorry, I know it may seem unusual for me to be calling you here, but there's major news... It's about Miss Belladonna... She's alive." The 3 remaining members of Team RWBY all exclaimed, "WHAT?!" Ruby yelled, "You mean its not a rumor?! We can see her again?!" Weiss exclaimed, "Hold on, we fought a monster that was controlling your dead mother. I would say the same thing could be happening, but Blake didn't even leave a body behind she just... Faded away. We... We destroyed her. We had no choice..." Ozpin nodded, "I agree... Especially given her transformation into a Heartless." Ruby stammered, "A H-H-Heartless? B-Blake?" Ozpin nodded. "Indeed. What you destroyed, back at the harbor... That wasn't quite miss Belladonna herself, but her Heartless. Ruby, you've seen the Heartless before."

Ruby looked up at Ozpin, asking, "Uh... Yeah, but... What are they?" Ozpin glanced at the stack of papers on his desk. "Monsters. Born from the darkness in people’s hearts. They come in many, many shapes and sizes, but from what I’ve gathered, there are two wider varieties, Pureblood, and Emblem, but both are very dangerous. Though Miss Belladonna was an unusual example, in that it retained her usual appearance. If I had to wager a guess, that would be due to her Semblance. I'll admit I've uh, been doing some homework of my own recently."

Weiss walked over to Ozpin's desk, seeing the papers. "Ansem?" She said, seeing a folder titled "Ansem's Reports." Ozpin nodded. "A researcher who dedicated himself to studying the heart." Yang asked, showing signs of impatience, "what does this have to do with Blake showing up now?" Ozpin narrowed his eyes. "I was getting to that..." He mumbled, "to think, I left those notes in Atlas..."

Yang gasped. "Wait a minute! Ozpin!" She exclaimed. "I was flying over Atlas, and I saw people carrying a coffin wrapped in the Atlesian Flag down the street! I'm not expert on Atlesian traditions, but that probably means something bad happened!" Ozpin shuffled over to his desk and sat down. "If that's the case, I'm afraid Miss Belladonna will have to wait." Ruby exclaimed, showing clear disdain for the decision. "What?! Why?!" Ozpin replied calmly, "If what miss Xiao Long said is true, then that means..." His voice took on a sullen, somber tone. "James... He's been assassinated."

While the public ceremony lasted all day, the next day, a more solemn, private funeral was arranged for Ironwood's close associates. The remnants of Team RWBY and JNPR were all present, along with most of Beacon's staff, as well as Qrow and Taiyang.

"Can't believe he's gone..." Qrow said in disbelief, once the whole thing was over. They were hanging out at the Atlas Military HQ, to be more specfic, the bar room. Glynda shook her head. It was thanks to Ironwood she was even able to walk. Her spine was Atlas tech, after having been fractured severely in a fight. Ozpin sighed, "And he was looking so forward to presenting his latest project. The last project he oversaw was something for you, Miss Xiao Long." Jaune exclaimed, with a twinge of jealousy. "Just for Yang?!"

A few Atlas scientists walked in, handing Yang a long, white box, around the length of her arm. "F-For me?" The female Atlas Scientist nodded. "This was worked on in absolute top secrecy for you. Seeing as how we uh.... Needed some help in making it... Top secret, you know how it is."

Yang opened the box. Inside, was a single, gold and red armored gauntlet, the length of her arm. Right above it, a similarly colored armored shoulder pad. Ozpin smiled slightly. "I don't think James would've wanted us to wait to give this to you... He was rather excited about it." Yang awkwardly put the shoulder pad on her right shoulder, putting the gauntlet on her right arm.

She tapped the shoulderpad, and suddenly, in a brilliant display of magical light, she was covered from the neck down in gold and red armor, similar to her gauntlet. "Woah! H-he made this?!" Yang exclaimed, almost in disbelief. "Had to make the whole suit first... Of course, then we needed help with functionality, which is where the help came in." Yang smiled, bringing out her Keyblade. Whatever drink Jaune was drinking, he spat right in Glynda's face, much to her chagrin. "I swear, if you were in school right now..." She grumbled, slightly drunk. Jaune wiped his lips with his sleeve, saying nervously. "Okay, sure she's got a Keyblade but you know Yang. She was always a fist fighter." Qrow grinned, as he got another bottle from the bar. "Uh, hate to break it to you, but... Oh wait, no I don't. Yeah, she's already surpassed you with a blade. In just a single afternoon."

Jaune fell down with the barstool he was sitting on. "WHAT?! ONE AFTERNOON?! HOW?!" As Jaune's already fragile self-esteem was shattered by the revelation, Ren asked the question that was probably somewhere in everyone's minds. "So, now that he's gone... Who's gonna take his place?" No one had an answer.

 

"So he's dead... Good work, my old friend. With him gone, that leaves a rather wide power vacuum to fill in. Of course, I'll make sure to throw some lien your way... After all, everyone will probably think it was a random Grimm attack. Though I'm curious why you gave up your previous experiments... After all, she showed so much promise... Side effects? Ah yes, the tournament. No worries, she doesn't remember a thing about them. Even if she did, she would never dare oppose her father. But with James gone, it won't be long before I practically run Atlas. Even if anyone finds out about this, they'll be powerless to do anything about it. And I have you to thank. Anyways, I'll talk to you later, I have a meeting to attend, and I really can't afford to be late to it." Jacques ended the call, heading towards his meeting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did want to sort of at least nod to V4 with Yang's armor, more particularly the gauntlet.
> 
> On another note, it's never been stated in KH Canon exactly how Keyblade Armor is made, so, uh, maybe I took a few liberties. Anyways, sorry for the, rather short chapter.


	6. Chapter 6

  
"Weiss, your sister's on TV!" Yang shouted, motioning for Weiss to sit on the couch with the rest of Team RWBY. "Neon... You say you're gonna be transferring to Beacon?" Neon nodded sadly. "Ironwood was the only reason I got into Atlas Academy. You know how strongly anti-Faunus Atlas is. Especially now with a Schnee running the military Atlas now. No offense, Weiss." Weiss sighed sadly, knowing full well her family's reputation, "None taken..."

  
Winter looked into the camera, her expression grim and serious. "Yesterday, we have suffered a devastating loss... General James Ironwood was found dead yesterday morning. It is a common belief that either the Grimm, or the new variety of monsters that have been spotted around Remnant, are responsible. I am here personally, to dismiss these as falsehoods. I knew James, he would never have let himself die to some monsters. Recent intelligence, from a source who wishes to remain anonymous, however, has pointed us in the direction of a culprit. I would also like to thank the artist who drew this portrait up on such short notice." A portrait was shown to everyone watching.

 

 

 

"Suspect's name is Aqua. She has a history of violence, especially against authority figures, and is incredibly dangerous, as well as mentally unstable. If sighted, you are to contact an Atlesian official immediately. That is all for now."

  
Ruby slumped back on the couch. "Aqua... Wasn't that the name of Terra's friend? Uh... Yang?" Yang's eyes were flashing between lilac and red. "YANG!" Ruby shouted, causing Yang to turn towards her, her eyes settled lilac. "Huh? What? Sorry, I... I don't know, I just... When i saw her face, there was something about her..." She summoned her Keyblade. "Yeah, something about her just screams, psycho bitch. I don't know why, but... Just looking at her. I'm scared for you and Dad. And Weiss, and Neon, and everyone else... I know, she has to be stopped." Yang's eyes flashed red very briefly.

  
Winter sighed as the camera crew left her office. "Now that that's done..." She pressed a button on her desk. "Send our guest in. Yes, the one in the black coat. That would be our informant." She leaned forward, attempting to look professional as the person, dressed in the signature black coat walked in.

"I would like to thank you for your help, Mayu." Winter said formally as Mayu removed his hood. He put a hand to his chest, smiling and bowing slightly. "The pleasure is all mine, Winter. I take it you've done as I've asked." Winter turned her head, avoiding his gaze. "Yes... I have." Seeing clear apprehension on her part, Mayu spoke up. "This works to both our benefits, Winter... I'm sure you don't need me to tell you..." Winter shook her head. "No, you don't. If anyone figures out... The Schnee family name will be ruined forever... Weiss and I would be treated as criminals. Hence, why the girl has to take the fall." Mayu nodded. "To be fair, she's the perfect scapegoat, considering she already has blood on her hands anyways." Mayu said, his face quivering with barely contained fury. "But yes, do not take this to mean Jacques will be exonerated in any way. We will deal with him quietly and in secret." Winter said with a relieved sigh. "I knew I could count on you... Rest assured, I will do my part as well." Mayu summoned a corridor of darkness with finger snap, and walked backwards into the dark opening, letting it vanish seconds later. Once she was sure Mayu wouldn't come back, she got out her personal scroll. She had a busy day ahead of her.

  
Weiss’s scroll went off in her pocket. It was a call from Winter. "Good afternoon, Weiss." Ruby poked her head over Weiss's shoulder. "Ozpin was saying something about Blake yesterday, you know anything about it?" Weiss turned to glare at Ruby, but Winter cleared her throat to get their attention. "Actually, that's why I was calling you. Truth be told however, this one is just another monster... An even more dangerous one. Hold on, I have this thing ready to play, how do I... Ah, there."

A portrait of Jaune appeared on screen. "When someone's heart is consumed by darkness..." In a black puff of smoke, the portrait was replaced by a common type of Heartless. "They become what is known as a Heartless." Weiss replied, "We know that at least." Winter nodded. "Good. Then I'll get to the point. Most of the time, once someone loses their heart and becomes a Heartless, the rest of them soon fades into darkness. But..."

An animatic appeared on screen of Blake losing her heart, and her heart quickly being consumed by darkness, taking the form of her Heartless. They watched as she fell backwards, her Heartless fidgeting around on the screen, before dashing off in a trail of darkness. "Sometimes, when someone loses their heart, rather than the leftovers being lost to darkness..." On screen, they saw Blake get up. "The body and soul left behind will start to act on its own." They watched on screen as Blake got back up. "This empty shell devoid of a heart is what's called, a Nobody." The feed went back to showing Winter. "So... Blake... Doesn't have a heart?" Yang asked. Winter said solemnly, "That is correct. It's nothing more than an abomination, devoid

of any capacity for emotion, even though it may try to fool you into thinking otherwise. For all the sightings of Blake in Grimm infested areas? It was as if she was a ghost to them, completely invisible, which leads me to believe that she indeed, does not possess any genuine emotion. Though from what I have been told, is that once the Nobody has been destroyed... There's a chance the genuine, complete article may be brought back."

Ruby exclaimed, "So we just have to destroy this monster Blake to get the real thing back? This is great! Once we take care of this Nobody, Team RWBY will be reunited at last!" Winter gave an affirmative nod. "But beware... It may try to trick you... Make you feel guilty... Chances are, her Nobody has all of her memories, so it may try to use them against you. Do NOT fall for it. Especially you, Yang. If you ever want Blake back? You'll have to destroy her Nobody. Do not fall for its trick. Remember, it may look like Blake and have all her memories... But you cannot allow yourselves to be fooled."

Ruby, Weiss, and Yang exchanged uncomfortable glances. "Oh, and Weiss... We're looking into the cause of your condition. Well... To be more accurate, the source of it. I know for a fact you were NOT born with it. It couldn't have been some careless injection of dust. As soon as we have a lead, I'll contact you again. Until then, remember what I told you." Winter gave a salute, before ending the call.

Winter sat back in her chair, thinking on the whole matter. Her thoughts turned to the Keyblade. “Say… Now that I think of it… Maybe I should look into claiming that Keyblade. After all, what better way to ensure Atlas’s security and the safety of her citizens than with such a fantastic weapon? If anything, it will at least be in safe hands.” She didn’t want to admit it, but the thought of the Keyblade in her hands made her feel a bit less guilty about her decision. She shook her head. “No. Atlas’s safety is my main concern. And if the only way to guarantee that safety is to acquire the Keyblade, then so be it… It’s my duty as General.” Winter said, looking out the window of her office.


	7. Chapter 7

Days passed with no sign of any noteworthy news. It was a dull morning when Winter contacted them again. "We've got confirmation for Qrow. Blake's been sighted. Right around a known bandit camp. As for James's murderer, around the Emerald Forest near Beacon. I'll be there in person to meet up with you!"

Having no time to arrange for an airship on short notice, Yang nodded, tossing Blazing Celica into the air, before it flew to her side in its Glider form. Weiss stared blankly as Yang got on, and zoomed into the sky.

As Winter's personal transport flew towards Patch, she saw Yang zoom by, fully decked out in her armor, helmet included. Unlike Terra's armor, there was a clear, yet no less sturdy material, over her face. "Hang on, Blake..."

Meanwhile, Ruby and Weiss had to wait for Winter. Between the waiting at Patch and the flight towards Beacon, it was almost an hour before they finally arrived.

  
The Emerald Forest's Grimm population was much more dense than usual, which was the first sign something was wrong. Winter put her hand out in front of Weiss and Ruby, motioning for them to stay back. A bolt of lightning struck a King Taijitu that was visible from where they were standing straight in the head, surging out electricity to everything nearby. In a few seconds, it was neatly sliced into small pieces. Along with any nearby Grimm as well as trees that were nearby. "I was stuck in the Realm of Darkness, these things are barely even a challenge." She said with the tiniest of smirks. She leaped up into the treetops, the perfect cover for her movement.

  
Winter looked around, looking for any signs of the Keyblade Wielder. But outside of fallen trees, which really could've been anything, so far, their search had turned up nothing. "There's no way the Grimm would be able to take her down of she did all this so easily." Aqua kept her breathing as still as possible as the trio approached her direction.

"So, how bad is it?" Ruby asked Winter. Winter replied with, "Well, given I've heard one of her nicknames is, _The Cerulean Devil_ , she's a danger to us all." At the mention of Cerulean Devil, Aqua leaped down from the treetops. "So you honestly believe that, huh?" She said with clear disdain. "So you're saying you're innocent?" Winter asked. She stood there thinking. "Nice try, I'm not falling for it."

Aqua glared at Winter, summoning her Keyblade. "Fine then." She said calmly. "Guess there was only one way this was going to end..." Aqua focused her vision on Winter, and small green reticles appeared in her vision, all of them on Winter. "COME ON!" She shouted, suddenly vanishing into a streak of lightning that charged into Winter. Weiss summoned a glyph in front of Winter, which Aqua stopped herself on and leaped off, cloaked in pink light, before attempting again. This time, reticles appeared on Weiss as well.

Weiss incorrectly guessed that Winter would be the target, and ended up on the receiving end of Aqua's Lightning Ray. Just as Winter was about to run in, Aqua shifted targets to start hitting Winter.

  
Ruby stood back, shaking, unsure of what to do. She wanted to believe a friend of Terra's was a good person, but given how relentlessly she had been assaulting Winter, that wasn't looking lightly. Winter and Weiss both went in for a strike. Seeing a chance to coordinate an assault, Ruby ran in as Aqua held her hand out. Winter, Weiss, and Ruby all had their strikes stopped by Aqua's barrier. Aqua rapidly raised her Keyblade, causing the barrier to shatter and explode outwards. Everyone around her was sent flying back, Winter colliding with a tree.

As the trio were recovering Aqua looked around the area, readying another Lightning Ray Shotlock. Once she was done, she zipped off, aimng primarily for Weiss and Ruby, but also got some potshots in on Winter.

Aqua's continued assaults had worn down Weiss's aura significantly. If this were the Vytal tournament, the match would've ended there. "W-weiss?" Weiss's aura was on the verge of breaking, and as far as Ruby knew, Aqua was already preparing another Lightning Ray. "No... NOOOOOOO! I WON'T LET YOU!" Ruby screamed as her silver eyes started to glow, and in a red and white steak, she blazed past Aqua, the sound of her scythe slicing through flesh ringing through the air. Aqua turned her head to the right, eyes widening in shock as she saw her Keyblade tumbling through the air along with her right arm.

Ruby turned back towards Aqua, who mustered all her remaining strength to put up a barrier. As soon as Yang went in for one more strike, she found her strike blocked by Ozpin's cane. "That is enough!" The glow from Ruby's eyes subsided. As soon as Aqua put down her barrier, Ozpin whacked her on the head with his cane, rendering her unconscious. "Professor Ozpin? What are you doing here?" He threw ice dust at Aqua's severed arm, freezing it. "Miss Rose? Grab that, we'll take her back to my office."

  
"Ozpin, you're insane, she could kill us all!" Winter screamed. "She's even more dangerous than Cinder ever was!" Ozpin sipped his coffee, looking over the still unconscious master. "You seemed to be taking this very personally Winter... Miss Xiao Long, I suppose I could understand if my suspicions are correct, but not you. Exactly... Where, did you get your information? I can assure you, I have heard about her from Mickey, and he has no reason to lie." Winter exclaimed, "Neither does Mayu! You haven't heard what he's had to say about her! That she's... Some kind of demon, a murderous psychopath!"

Ruby exclaimed, "Wait... MAYU?!" Weiss exclaimed in turn, "but... If it was Mayu, then... That explains why he wanted to pin Ironwood's murder on Aqua! As far as he's concerned, she already has blood on her hands, specifically his father's!" Winter replied, "Yes, she has a history. Like it or not, my actions were justified. Even if it was improper to blame her for James's death, I had no reason to doubt Mayu's words. We... Spoke for longer than you'd think."

Winter looked down at the floor. "You've felt it, haven't you Ozpin? The rage? The sorrow in his heart?" Ozpin sighed, "Which is what makes this whole situation so tricky. As far as he's aware, he has been completely honest with you, Winter, even if his heart is indeed clouded by a desire for retribution. But something tells me there's another side to the whole story that he isn't aware of. Mickey thinks so too."

Aqua struggled to get up, with no feeling in her right arm. She soon remembered why, though when she tried to move it, she did feel some weight. She looked over, to see it been stitched back on. She sighed, "Curaga." A few white flower buds appeared over her head as she was washed over with a soothing green light. She started feeling a great deal of pain where the stitches were, and where her arm had been severed. "OW, OW, OW!" She said as the magic essentially forced her body to fully reconnect and heal the severed nerve endings, a normally lengthy process, in mere seconds.

As Aqua was gasping for breath, Ruby meekly said, "Sorry..." Aqua turned towards her, saying, "I-It's okay..." The same flower buds appeared over Weiss, Ruby, and even Winter. "Sorry about, well... Everything. I should've held back." Winter eyed Aqua with suspicion, but soon received a message on her scroll. "No way..." She said. "Weiss? Come with me, you need to see this. Preferably in private." She walked out of Ozpin's office, with Weiss following behind.

 

As soon as she was sure Weiss and Winter were out of earshot, Aqua stated, "You seemed genuinely afraid for your friend back there... Did you... Really think I was going to kill her?" Ruby nodded sadly. "Ozpin told me everything... He said my eyes acted up and I er... Cut off your arm? How's it feeling now, by the way?" Aqua looked at her hand, moving her fingers. "Still rather numb..."

 

there was a moment of awkward silence, before Aqua asked a simple question. "You like her, don't you?" Ruby nodded awkwardly. "Well, yeah, she's my friend." Aqua's eyes narrowed. "I didn't mean it like that." Ruby exclaimed, "What?! Don't get me wrong, I like Weiss and all, but we're just friends." Aqua gave a small smile. "You know, you say that, but... I think you'll find in your heart you feel more strongly about her, even if you don't quite realize it yet. And I think she feels similarly."

Ruby tilted her head like a confused dog as Aqua grabbed the glass of water next to the cot she was lying on, and took a drink. "So... You're one of Terra's friends, right?" Some of the ice cold water ended up inside her windpipe, and she started coughing. Ozpin sighed, "Don't you just hate when that happens?"

Once she finally stopped coughing, she exclaimed, "You know Terra?!" Ruby nodded, "Yep. Of course, there's also Ven, but I don't really know him that well, I mean I pretty much just met him not too long ago, like, a few days before I found Ya-" Aqua leaped out of bed, tackling Ruby to the ground. "You know Ven, too?! Where are they?! She asked excitedly. Ozpin said, smiling fondly. "Oh, just wait. They'll end up having to come back here for whatever reason. Wait... Are you crying?" Aqua wiped the area under her eyes. Sure enough, she was. "I don't believe it." She said happily, barely containing tears of joy. "After all this time. I can finally see my friends again..."

  
Meanwhile, Yang touched down outside of a bandit camp. Just as she was about to calmly walk in, she heard a voice shout, "W-WHAT IN THE HELL ARE THESE THINGS?!" "THEY'RE EVERYWHERE!"


	8. Chapter 8

 

Yang ran into the camp, still armored. She looked around, the "camp", a small town that had been overtaken by the bandits. Who else did she see, but Raven Branwen, her mother, fighting off white creatures?

  
Yang took one look at them, and immediately knew they were bad news. They were vaguely humanoid, but... Everything about them seemed very wrong. The way they moved, the way their bodies contorted and twisted about, everything about them seemed... Unnatural.

 

She noted the symbol on its head, before Raven slashed at it. It arched its torso backwards to evade the strike, and dropped to the ground, slithering around Raven's ankles like a snake. Raven attempted to stab at the creature, but it deftly evaded her strikes. As she was looking down, Yang saw a club seemingly floating above Raven in midair, ready to be brought down on her. Just as it came down, Yang leaped into action, deflecting the strike. She noticed something small holding on to the handle, which soon grew to full size.

 __

  
Yang lunged forward with a swing, following up her strike with a backwards somersault slash. "Catch ya later, big guy!" She exclaimed as she picked up its dropped weapon, which was easily larger than she was. Holding it by the handle, she swung it around wildly at the creatures that tried to swarm her. They vanished in flecks of white light and with a distinctive sound, she noticed. "Yeah, definitely not Grimm or those Heartless things..."

Yang smirked. "Magnet!" She yelled, creating a prism shaped, rotating energy field in the air that drew all of the creatures in. Raven, wasting no time, sliced through of all of them with one strike while they were stuck. That seemed to have been it. There was a lull in the air. Yang looked around. There didn't seem to be any more of them.

The first thing Raven noticed about her rescuer was the weapon. "A Keyblade?!" She exclaimed. "Well, I guess we're even now, huh?" Yang said with a grin as her armor vanished, save for the shoulder pad and gauntlet. "Yeah, I'll bet you're surprised. Me. A Keyblade Master." Raven couldn't even be mad. In fact, it was the first time she felt even remotely proud of her daughter. But she sure as hell didn't show it.

Raven stood there, silent, as Yang looked around the camp... Out of one of the abandoned buildings, a young girl walked out slowly, looking around nervously. She had shoulder length hair, green like a lush countryside, and emerald green eyes. She was wearing a pendant around her neck, and a simple white dress, as well as a crown of white flowers.

"D-did you make the monsters go away?" She asked Yang meekly as she approached. Yang kneeled down, so she could make eye contact with her. "Yes I did. Why, did they try to hurt you?" She said with a maternal tone. The young girl nodded. Yang gently put her arms around the child. "It's okay... You're safe now. What's your name?" The little girl seemed to be easing up a bit, as she replied, "Verdan."

Verdan tucked her head into her dress and inched closer to Yang. A voice that was hauntingly familiar to Yang coldly remarked, "There you are. The Spring Maiden..." Yang turned around. "It's good to see you again, Yang..."

Yang's eyes widened. "B-Blake?" She said in disbelief. "I thought you were, you know... Gone forever." Blake replied, her expression and tone unchanging, "Is that so? I never would've guessed you cared... You already found a replacement for me. Neon, was her name?"

  
Verdan shuddered in Yang's arms, trying to hide from the faunus. "Hand her over. Now." She said firmly. "You're not aware of the legend of the Maidens, are you? The Spring Maiden in particular..." She stepped forward, popping up in front of Yang. She looked down at the scared child. "Said to have powers related to life and healing. I wonder... Could such a power restore us to who we once were? " Yang said angrily, "wait, you were behind this?! Blake, how could you?! Verdan could've gotten hurt, she's just a little girl!"'

Blake shrugged her shoulders, replying coldly. "So? You expect me to feel guilty that some girl I don't know could get hurt?" Yang growled, every word feeding a raging flame within. "Nobodies like me have no reason to care about anyone... Nor do we have the capacity to." Blake said, before she vanished into a dark portal.

As soon as she got over the shock and slight rage, she picked up Verdan, and got out her scroll, calling for Winter to bring an airship nearby. There was no way she was traveling on her glider with a little girl in tow.

The very first people she saw on the airship were Ruby and Weiss. And they looked like they had some news. "Yang... Remember Dr. Merlot?" Yang exclaimed, "How could I forget that guy? He was doing experiments with Grimm. I remember because the two of us went on a mission with Ren and Nora to investigate trouble with the security network in the Emerald Forest. Then we had to infiltrate his lab, fight that mutated Deathstalker, and then the whole place went up in flames. So he's still alive?!"

  
Weiss sighed, "That's not all... Apparently, he dabbled a bit on human experimentation as well... He also knew my father." Weiss paled as she said, "My father was curious and wanted experiments to be done with dust... He had Dr. Merlot help him. Merlot started with Faunus Workers... And I'm guessing when Dr. Merlot got some sort of desirable result? My father had me be Merlot's next test subject... If I had to guess? So he could make me some sort of living weapon to use against anyone who opposed him. Maybe I'm jumping to conclusions, but I wouldn't put it past him at this point..."

Verdan tugged at Yang's shorts, hiding behind her. "Oh, Verdan, this is Weiss, one of my teammates, and Ruby, my sister." She slowly emerged from behind Yang and approached Ruby. "H-hi. I may not know much about Hunters, since I,prefer to live peacefully, but don't they almost always consist of teams of 4?"

Yang sighed, "Blake would've been it, but... Yeah, you know." Verdan said, "Something was very wrong about her. I could feel her Aura it was... Scary. I'd never felt anything like it. It was twisted, and just feeling it was... Wrong, I don't really know exactly how to describe it. It was like... Something was missing from her."

Ruby said sadly, "so Winter was right after all... Blake really doesn't have a heart anymore..." Yang shook her head. "I... I gotta talk to your sister, Weiss, she's up front, right?" Weiss replied, "Last I checked, yes."

  
As Yang walked off, Ruby turned towards Weiss. "Hey, Weiss?" Weiss turned towards Ruby. "What is it?" Ruby stayed silent for a moment, then shook her head. "Never mind... It's nothing." She said as she turned her head slowly away from Weiss.


	9. Chapter 9

"I see... I figured as much." Winter remarked. "Those creatures you saw her commanding are what are known as lesser Nobodies, Yang. In fact, ordinarily, when someone leaves a Nobody behind, they usually end up in a form such as that. However... The most powerful of them all, for the most part retain their original appearance, such as in Blake's case. I'm still not sure what exactly determines whether a Nobody retains its original self's appearance."

Yang said dejectedly, "I still can't believe it... Blake went out of her way to have them attack a little girl. Even if she is some kind of maiden. Poor thing... She must've been so scared."

"I swear, I better be getting paid overtime for this..." The airship pilot grumbled as the private airship touched down in Patch. The entire group walked out of the ship, Yang holding a sleepy Verdan in her arms. "When we get home, I'll get you a nice glass of orange juice." She said, not letting go of Verdan the entire way home.

It was when they finally got to the Xiao Long household that Verdan stirred awake. "Hm?" Yang said, "Shhhh... You'll be safe here. No bad people-" she saw Aqua outside, near Summer's re-burial site. "Correction. One. But not for long, stay here, and don't follow me." She said sternly.

Just as Yang's eyes turned a ferocious red color, far more so than usual, Ruby jumped up on her back. "Ruby. Get off of me. If I don't do this, she's gonna kill you and dad!" Ruby exclaimed pleadingly, "That's just it, she's not a bad person, you have to listen, Yang!" Yang's Keyblade appeared in her hand, as Ruby attempted to hold her back. Aqua turned around, groaning. "Thundaga." Ruby leaped off of Yang, just before the large bolt of lightning struck her, and split into a circle of smaller bolts.

Aqua remarked sternly, "Hopefully that managed to jolt some sense into you..." Yang's eyes returned to normal, and she started snickering. "What's so funny?!" Aqua asked demandingly. Yang smiled, "You don't get it. Quite frankly, I'm shocked." Aqua's mind made the connection seconds later. She started laughing along with Yang.

Ruby smiled, "See? She's not a bad person, Yang. There's just been a... huge misunderstanding." Yang turned away from Aqua. "yeah, but... I don't even know where that came from. it just felt so... Personal. Like, it was her... Or everyone I care about." Verdan scooted closer to Yang. "Now that you mention it, your Aura is actually a bit strange. Like... A small piece of someone else is mixed in with it. A piece that has yet to be made fully your own. Right when you saw her? I felt it start to act up."

Yang stood there, pondering, but her train of thought was derailed by someone approaching. "Terra, you said you know where it was and how to get there!" "I did, you're the one who made that wrong turn." "Cut me some slack, I'm a bit rusty when it comes to flying, okay?"

Ruby exclaimed, "Terra! And uh... Ventus too." Terra remarked, "Just, checking in on you... Guys." His voice trailed off as he saw Aqua. Ven was simply silent. "Aqua?"

Aqua would've liked to say she was calm and collected, simply happy to see her friends again. The fact her first instinct was to practically tackle hug both Terra and Ventus while crying tears of a joy in a rather undignified matter, pretty much retroactively ruined any chance of her putting up any sort of air of calmness.

"I-I'm sorry!" She said, wide-eyed, hopping in place as if she just couldn't contain her joy. "It's just... You two are here! You're really here! It's..." She stopped jumping. "Almost too good to be true..." She remembered the tricks the Realm of Darkness played on her mind. As if to alleviate her concerns, Terra and Ventus reached into their pockets and showed her something. "The Wayfinders..." She reached into her pocket, pulling out her own. "An Unbreakable Connection..." She muttered fondly.

 

 

It was then that Ventus noticed the stitch marks on Aqua's right arm. "Uh..." Aqua's eyes narrowed as she looked awkwardly at the blonde. "Yeeeeeeeeeeah, don't ask... Believe me when I say, I am never letting her live it down." She said, glancing slyly at Ruby. Ruby replied by laughing nervously. "I-It was a huge misunderstanding." Aqua stated, "Yeah, we fought, she was afraid I would kill her gi-" She immediately caught herself. "Her friend, and she... cut off my arm. But, as you can see, it's all better now. Got it reattached, few casts of Curaga, it's all water under the bridge."

Yang sheepishly said, "And uh... Sorry I... Tried to murder you, I don't know what came over me..." Verdan said reassuringly, "I know you were just concerned for your friends and family. Even though there really was nothing to be afraid of." Aqua mumbled, "You say that, but..." she shook her head, those thoughts soon being forcibly dismissed by none other than Zwei leaping at her happily.

  
Aqua caught the corgi pup in her arms, smiling as Zwei licked her face. "Thanks everyone, I uh... I think I need to lie down some more, this has all been very overwhelming." She put Zwei down, walking into the house.

What no one realized is that watching from the nearby treetops, standing on a branch, was Blake. She held a hand to her chest and sighed, as she remembered what it was like to have friends. To laugh, to feel happy, angry, or even sad. "I WILL be whole again." Her determination to fill in the void within was all she had left now. She leapt down from the branch, before opening up a dark corridor and walking in. "And I think I have an idea how..."

As soon as Aqua walked into the house, she collapsed on the couch... Right on top of Neon. Neon, not waking in the slightest, curled her tail around Aqua as the blue haired Keyblade wielder fell asleep.


	10. Chapter 10

Neon awoke in the middle of the night, feeling something had been thrashing against her. She saw something on the kitchen table, a faint blue glow. She walked over to inspect it closer. It was Aqua's Wayfinder. "What's this?" She asked herself. "It looks kind of pretty." It was faintly glowing in her hand. "Wonder who this belongs to?"

Aqua wandered through the empty halls of Beacon. Only Nora, Ren, and Jaune, along with a few select members of faculty were there, and Nora and Ren were there because they had nowhere else to go, being orphans. Not that Aqua knew that. As far as she knew, she was completely alone.

  
She walked into what appeared to be a ampitheater. She sighed sadly, remembering the fate of her home... "You're not worthy of being a Keyblade Master..." Aqua almost jumped. The voice sounded much like her own. "You should've never left the Realm of Darkness." She summoned her Keyblade, Stormfell. "Terra and Ventus are better off without you." Aqua shouted in response, "What did you say?! Where are you?!"

The projectors in the area all switched on, focusing on one area, and soon enough a column of darkness rose up from the focused area. "No... Not you..."

 

"Haven't I told you? Only your heart is hollow enough to be a demon's..." Aqua readied herself for battle. "So it's you... I've taken you down before, I'll do it again!"

Upon the first meeting of their weapons, her phantom said tauntingly, "That Yang girl is right... She may try to hide it for her darling little sister, but deep down, she loathes you..." Aqua cast a Firaga spell at her doppelganger, who dodged while simultaneously casting Thundaga multiple times.

"You're just a ghost of your former self... You should’ve died in the Realm of Darkness..." Aqua shouted furiously, "SHUT UP!" The phantom calmly dodged her leaping strike, saying, "You're a walking catastrophe... The worlds are better off without you. Just let everything go and fade into darkness..." Aqua shouted angrily, "NO! GO AWAY!" She began an all-out assault, slashing at the phantom while constantly vanishing and reappearing as she slid past it. "I'VE HAD ENOUGH!" Aqua spun around, ascending upwards, then stopping, floating in mid-air. "METEOR STORM!" She raised her Keyblade into the air, as meteorites fell from the ceiling and pummeled the phantom into the ground. Aqua screamed furiously as the meteorites picked up in both in speed and number. She let herself float down, practically gasping for air once she landed. The phantom re-appeared behind her, asking rather casually, "Are you done?" Her tone unchanging, she remarked, "No wonder Mayu calls you the Cerulean Devil..."

Just as Aqua screamed furiously again, Ozpin, still in his pajamas, yawned, and turned on the lights. As soon as they came on, the phantom Aqua vanished. Aqua also felt a good deal of the negativity she felt at the moment subside. She turned to see two other people. She could very clearly see concern on their faces. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't know there were people here!" Aqua said. Ozpin shook his head. "Aqua... It would appear your little incursion into the Realm of Darkness has taken more of a toll on you than you'd care to admit." Aqua looked up at the Beacon headmaster. "Maybe it has... What if Mayu's actually right? What if I am a menace?" She looked around at the destruction she'd caused in the amphitheater. Ozpin remarked, "Well, you would be considered one if we had neighbors. Though we don’t, so no worries about noise complaints." Just as Aqua turned around to leave, Ozpin said with a smile. "Feel free to stay in one of the empty dorms, I... Have a few calls to make..."

As Ozpin made his way to his office, Aqua found herself being dragged off by the girl. "Name's Nora, and this here is Ren!" Aqua sighed, letting the redhead drag her wherever. It was going to be a long night. She knew already she wasn't going to be getting any sleep.

But Jaune, Ren, and Nora made the sleepless night so much more tolerable. "You actually wore a dress?" Aqua asked, containing her laughter. Jaune remarked, "Hey, I promised her I would wear it if she didn't get a date to the dance. And well, a promise is a promise." Aqua started laughing, picturing Jaune wearing a dress. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it's just... I don't think she'd have held it against you if you didn't. For all she knew, you weren't actually being serious."

Nora made a sad face. "Too bad Pyrrha's gone..." Jaune said, "Y-yeah. But it's weird, every time I start to feel sad about it, I feel... It's weird, but it's like... I feel I don't really have a reason to be sad. She basically taught me everything I know, but... Seeing Terra, heck, even Yang right now in action... I've never felt so useless." Aqua smiled, "She sounds like a really nice person." Jaune nodded, "Yeah, you... Sort of remind me of her, actually." Aqua gasped slightly. "Even after-" he nodded. "I mean... Besides that, but, there's probably a whole reason for that, I'm guessing."

Aqua closed her eyes, focusing on the light of Jaune's heart. She opened her eyes and gasped. "Wait, what were you saying before?" Both Ren and Nora turned towards Jaune. "A-again, i-it's weird." He said nervously. "But every time I start to feel sad about it, it's almost like... I feel like she's right beside me." Aqua smiled. "I get it now. This other light I'm feeling from your heart... It's hers." Jaune's expression turned to one of bewilderment. He started blankly at Aqua. "Pyrrha? Are you..." He looked down at his chest. "Are you in there?" He closed his eyes, and focused on his breathing. Though he didn't hear her voice. A feeling from deep within him welled up in response, as if to say yes. Jaune smiled. "So uh... This means you'll continue to help me practice, right?" The same feeling from within told him Pyrrha wouldn't have it any other way. "I'll make sure I give your regards to Ruby and the others, Pyrrha..."

Nora smacked Aqua in the face with her pillow, shouting, "PILLOW FIGHT!" Aqua grabbed a nearby pillow, smirking. "Bring it..."

She saw something out the window... Terra and Ven were approaching on their gliders. "Actually... There's something more important I have to do first..." She met up with Terra and Ven on the roof, lying down to look up at the night sky. Ven dropped Aqua's Wayfinder on her chest. "My Wayfinder, I... Must have forgotten it." She said.

"How long has it been? Since the three of us looked up at the night sky?" Ventus asked out loud. Aqua remarked, "Too long..." She smiled. Seeing Terra and Ventus again, looking up at the night sky, it was like old times. But seeing them now, they seemed to have both grown. "Maybe... Those two would do just fine without me." Aqua thought to herself. She shook her head, dismissing those thoughts. "Why did you run off anyways?" Aqua turned towards Terra. "Well, when I woke up... I noticed I was lying down on some girl. Which is probably why I woke up, she must've been trying to wriggle free." She explained. It might not have been the truth, but she didn't want to tell Terra the real reason. She just had to get away, find a private place away from everyone. She didn't want Terra and Ven, her dearest friends, to see just how much she was really hurting inside.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile, at the Mysterious Tower, the great sorcerer, Yen Sid, was speaking to a guest in his loft. "I apologize for dragging you here... But I require your assistance. It is quite a monumental effort to bring someone such as yourself through time & space, as you can no doubt imagine. It took both myself and Merlin for this to even be possible..."

  
Yen Sid continued, "You see, there is someone who desperately needs your example. For it to be their guiding light. I had underestimated just how much trauma spending so long in the Realm of Darkness could have caused. But as I have told you before, I fear they may not be the only one who will be needing your guidance."

 

  
"So, this Aqua girl... And myself?" Asked the girl standing on the other side of Yen Sid's desk. "A storm is brewing within her... She may soon find out, in fact, she may have already, that a part of another, now rests within her. A problem I would hope can be nipped in the bud before it becomes too serious... But first... Hold out your arm, like so."

Yang held out her metal arm, as if she was gripping something and holding it out. And in a flash of embers, a weapon she'd never seen before appeared in her hands. "WOAH!" Yen Sid explained, "it is the weapon that your counterpart wields... You see, you have, or at least this version of you has, been chosen by the Keyblade."

Yang pointed to herself. "Chosen?" Yen Sid nodded. "The fact you are able to wield it is a good sign... As for why that is, that is something that is best left for you to discover. But in order for them to reach them... You will need this." Yen Sid handed her something. A Star Shard. "Um... Thanks, I guess. Oh boy, this is something I never thought I'd be doing..." She said as she walked out.

Yen Sid smiled. Ozpin owed him big time for this one. "To think, Ozpin, you declined to walk the same path as myself, Eraqus, and Xehanort..." His thoughts turned to Yang. "I sincerely hope her counterpart and Ozpin make sure that the girl does not go down that same dark path…”

 

 

“GGgggggh… Ggggggh…” Mayu struggled under the immense pressure. The gravity in this room had been magically amplified greatly. It was a struggle to do simple push-ups, but he wouldn’t have had it any other way. “Sir, you’re going to tear yourself apart at this rate!” Came the concerned cry of the tanned woman in blue responsible for maintaining the room’s magically enhanced gravity. Mayu felt himself being pulled downward, and it took everything he had to just keep himself up. He felt the gravity in the room slowly decreasing, as he got up. By the time he got to his feet, gravity had returned to normal. He knelt down on one knee, blazing crimson eyes returning to a lilac color. He put his right hand on his other knee.. He was practically drenched in sweat, and he took a moment to catch his breath before standing up fully.

  
A towel floated by him for him to grab. “Thank you, Azura. If you’ll excuse me, I have to take a shower.” Azura said with a bow. “Yes, my prince.” As Mayu retreated to his private quarters, Azura smiled fondly. “You’ve grown so much since you were little, my prince.”


	11. Chapter 11

Aqua had set up a small space to sleep in in Beacon's Locker Room, away from Team JNPR and everyone else.

"You'll just drag Terra back into the darkness with you." She heard her own voice,say accusingly in her head. "You weren't there for Ven... A complete stranger and Terra had to risk their lives to find him and wake him up... You should've just left him with Yen Sid, instead of locking him up in that prison you called the Chamber of Waking..."

She saw her phantom in the mirror. Aqua screamed, lashing out at the mirror in the washroom with her Keyblade. Then she heard other voices. "My father was a kind-hearted man... And you killed him... Monster." "N-no... I didn't... I didn't do it!" She exclaiming. Then came Yang's voice. " _Murderer... And deep in your heart... You know it's **your** fault._ " Just as Aqua was about to have a complete mental breakdown, it was stopped by a swing of Magnhild to the back of her head. Nora shook her head slowly, dragging Aqua back to the JNPR dorm.

 

* * *

 

 

 

"The sunset... It's beautiful..." Yang said with a small smile, looking up at the crimson sky. "I guess that's why the call it Twilight Town..." She only vaguely recalled seeing the front of that mansion, she'd never seen the town itself. She leaped upwards as she heard a tram coming her way, landing on top of it. "May as well enjoy the view..." As the tram leisurely made its way around the marketplace, she saw a bakery that the tram went around. "Maybe I oughta bring Ruby back something..." She lay down on top of the tram, looking up at the sky. "It's such a nice place. Not sure I'd live here though, seems like it'd get boring pretty quick." She yawned. "Oh wow..." She honestly felt like she could doze off on top of the tram, the small vibrations as it move through town on the tracks being almost soothing."

As the track took the tram towards an archway, past the hole that lead to the old mansion, she saw someone straight ahead, in front of an arched sign with a banner hanging off of it that read "STRUGGLE." She stood up and jumped off the tram, landing right in front of the sign and the person. Who not that she,looked st them, minus a metal arm, was basically her twin. "Wh-Who are you?!" She asked, getting into battle stance, Blazing Celica appearing in a flash of embers in her right hand.

"Yeah, figured that'd be a natural reaction to meeting yourself." She said with a grin. Blazing Celica vanished from Yang's hand. "M-myself? Pretty sure you're not me... Look, I was told I had to meet up with someone, details were a bit sketchy, kind of ready for some kind of trick." Yang felt a metal grip on her shoulder. "yeah, that person would be you. Or me." There was a moment of silence. "okay, let's just get right to it. I'm you. Or at least... Another version of you. It's a long story, and-" yang grabbed her counterpart, exclaiming, "This is so cool! You're like some kind of long lost twin of mine or something!" The other Yang felt herself being crushed. "Now I know how Ruby feels!" Yang remarked, the comment about Ruby reminding her of something, "Speaking of, before I take you back home with me... Ruby did tell me about a local flavor here. What was it again? Oh, right, Sea-Salt Ice Cream!"

After they indulged in the wonders of Sea Salt Ice Cream, courtesy of the other Yang's Star Shard, they soon found themsevles crashing through the window of Team JNPR's dorm, landing on top of Ren. Nora was the first to lay eyes on the scene. "D-did someone spike my maple syrup with coffee again?" Jaune opened the door and waved. "Hey Yang. Hey Yang." He walked off to grab something, before he sprinted back, yelling, "WAIT A MINUTE, TWO YANGS?!" Ren crawled out from under the twn dragons taking a fighting stance. "Yang..." Then he saw the metal arm, dropping his fighting stance. "Wait... Okay, I got nothing, that's not Mayu. Who is it?"

Yang got up, helping her counterpart up to her feet. "Well everyone... Say hello to Parallel Yang!" Jaune exclaimed, "Wait! I saw this a comic once... You're from another dimension!" Parallel Yang nodded slowly. "Yeeeeeeah, sort of... I'm from another- Wait... Parallel Yang?" Yang shrugged her shoulders and smiled awkwardly. "Hey, gotten differentiate you by name somehow, am I right?"

Parallel Yang looked over to the bed that was once Pyrrha's, seeing Aqua lying there, still out cold, her colors seemingly desaturated. "It's just to make sure she doesn't have any more violent nightmares for the time being." Ren stated. Jaune looked away, asking, "What could've done this to her? Terra said she was never like this before..."

Parallel Yang walked over to Aqua, placing her left hand on her cheek. "Oh wow... I guess it's like Yen Sid said. She hasn't truly escaped the Realm of Darkness. It still has its grip on her heart..." Jaune looked down dejectedly, as Parallel Yang said, "That's part of the reason I'm here. To help her. I've gone through my fair share of trauma and nightmares. As you could... No doubt have guessed." She said, moving her mechanical arm for emphasis.

"So, how'd you lose it?" Jaune asked. Parallel Yang sighed. "Adam Taurus." Parallel Yang shared her tale, about how Beacon fell, and how she lost her arm. At the mention of Blake, Yang smiled. "So... At least Blake is still Blake." Jaune exclaimed, "I mean, you actually might have it easier! At least you don't have to deal with the Heartless!" Ren nodded. "or those Nobodies I've been hearing about. That, and you only lost an arm. Yang had her body stolen..." Parallel Yang was about to say something, but Ren's words sank in seconds later. "Did you just say... MY COUNTERPART LOST HER BODY?!" Yang looked down at the ground dejectedly, recalling that moment.

  
_Quite jarringly to her, moments later she was now outside of her own body. She looked down at herself. Now transparent, and with her shape, but no physical form. She watched her body clutch its head, its eyes closed. Even more jarring was hearing Mayu's voice come from her lips. He took one look at the spectral Yang, and immediately averted his gaze. "I'm sorry..." He said sadly, clearly feeling some guilt. "Mayu..." She said as her spectral form flickered. "Why? WHY?! WE WERE FRIENDS! I TRUSTED YOU!"_

Yang said sadly. "He was my friend... I still remember just how... Betrayed I felt, like, I couldn't believe he could that..." Jaune said with a hint of anger, "And just so he could save himself..."

Yang smiled a bit. "But... It's odd... Here I am now... And I have this sneaking suspicion Mayu's responsible." Jaune asked, "What makes you say that?" Yang shrugged her shoulders. "No idea. Just... A feeling I've got. I actually remember him feeling sorry about the whole situation... And I feel he genuinely meant it."

Parallel Yang sighed, "I get it, this... Mayu's arrival is what changed things. Because, Beacon looks to be in pretty good shape." Jaune replied, "He wasn't the only one... There were also bad guys. Vanitas, who was bad news, Ruby, Weiss, and of course, my team, all went with Terra to some other world in order to stop his schemes." Yang clenched her fist. "then there was..." She growled. "Maleficent. I've never seen the witch in person. I just know she manipulated Blake with the powers of darkness. And that lead to Blake losing her heart."

Parallel Yang stood there, as Yang went into the details of everything leading up,their meeting. "Wow, that is... Quite the story. I mean... An alien prince? If he didn't take your body, I'd honestly say he's kinda cute." She said slyly. "Oh and, congrats on actually winning the Vytal Tournament." She exclaimed, nudging her counterpart with her metal elbow. "So uh, what now? Your place?" Yang grinned, summoning Blazing Celica,and throwing it out the open window, and soon enough, it was floating just outside in its Glider Form. Parallel Yang was almost speechless, but she followed her other self onto it, before it zipped off into the night sky.

  
"This is so amazing..." Parallel Yang said breathlessly. She was shocked when they were already in Patch. "I'm guessing..." Parallel Yang remarked, "You don't mind sharing MY bed, do you?" Yang laughed awkwardly, replying, "I guess not..."

The next morning, both Yang smelled something cooking. They rushed downstairs, where Zwei merely sat there, staring at them, like he was deciding which Yang would get a face full of dog kisses. He decided on Parallel Yang, leaping into her arms. "Aw, hey Zwei! Who's a good boy? Who's a good boy?" She said, rubbing her nose against Zwei's. "You are! Yes you are!" Zwei barked softly in response, as Parallel Yang gently set the corgi pup down on ground.

Taiyang turned around, remarking, "Hey champ, you seem to be in a good mood today." His voice trailed off at the sight of the other Yang. "Let me guess... Long story?" He said, earning nods from both Yangs. "Well, I'll just make the exact same thing for you..."

  
Just as Ruby and Weiss came in, Yang wasted no time with introductions. "Rubes, Weiss... This is, Parallel Yang. She's me from another version of Remnant." Ruby gasped. "Wow... It's like... It's like I have TWO big sisters now!" Weiss shuddered. Double the Yang meant double the puns... At least that, possibly more. "Oh, other Yang, I have to show you something, I've... Actually been working on something."

As Ruby took Parallel Yang to a spot very close by. A rather large space, that last Parallel Yang checked? There were a bunch of trees there. However, it looked like they'd all been cleared out. All to make room for a beautiful garden of roses. There was a paved path, that lead to a familiar sight... The grave of Summer Rose. "Ruby... When-"

Ruby shuddered at the thought of the Leechgrave, but she recounted the tale. How it devoured Grimm in the Cliffside Forest in order to gain strength, how it latched itself to Summer's grave to restore her body to he used by the Heartless for no doubt dark purposes, and how Ruby and Weiss freed her from the Heartless' grip, and how the decision was reached to change her final resting place to be closer to their home. "This garden was my idea, but I didn't want it to be in our front yard. So then Terra stepped up and cleared this area for me."

Yang looked at the fountain that was in the center of the path. "It's beautiful..." She said. "Still got a long way to go..." Ruby remarked, "But it's worth it." Parallel Yang nodded in agreement. "Mom would love it." They stood there for quite some time before Ruby took Parallel Yang's hand. "Come on, I think our breakfast is getting cold."


	12. Chapter 12

"This is good!" Parallel Yang said after she'd swallowed a mouthful of food. "Thanks, uh... Well you're not MY dad, so..." At the same time, Ruby was almost obsessively checking her scroll. "Come on... They have to have found Dr. Merlot by now..." Weiss put hand on Ruby's shoulder, gently saying, "Ruby..."

  
Just then, Zwei came down, setting Yang's scroll by her feet as it was going off. "Must be Weiss's sister." Yang set her fork down, picking up her scroll. "Morning, General Snow Queen." Winter grumbled on the other end, clearly disapproving of the nickname, but she managed to keep things professional. "Well, I was thinking it's finally time to start dealing with the White Fang. Adam Taurus, their leader as far as we're aware, is already dead, as I'm sure you know, which dealt a massive blow to their operations."

Parallel Yang smiled more than she should have. "Which brings us to the mission I have assigned to you." An image of a person appeared on the screen.

 

  
"A high-ranking member of the White Fang, Ilia Amitola, has been sighted in Mistral. We've received word they plan to destroy a major dust shipment later tonight, thanks to a spy we've placed in their ranks. I'm sending you details, your mission is to capture her and bring her into custody. I'm not too certain on her fighting style, only that she can change the color of her skin. If she really wants to, your little sister may tag along. That's all for now, I will be sending you further details later." Winter's message ended, and Yang turned off the scroll. "Good boy, Zwei." She said, petting the corgi.

Parallel Yang nodded. "Well, there's another reason I'm here... But first, other me, how about a sparring match?" Suddenly, Winter called back, this time, Parallel Yang answering it. The very first thing Winter said was, "huh... Ozpin wasn't going crazy after all... He told me to expect this... What I didn't expect was for you to be wearing an outdated piece of junk as an arm." Parallel Yang exclaimed indignantly, "O-Outdated?!" Winter chuckled, "Oh yeah. Actually, you'll be the first for a new model, which I, personally, am very proud of. You will need to come over to Atlas once it's done." Parallel Yang was skeptical of Winter's claim. "What makes it so much better than what I have now?" Winter's grin grew wider. "Oh... Everything. In fact, you have time, Yang, why not bring her over to Atlas?"

 

It wasn't a long trip to Atlas on the Keyblade Glider. As soon as they got there, Winter was extremely prideful. "just in time... Alternate Yang, meet Hanako."

  
Parallel Yang looked in bewilderment. She'd expected someone who had the look of years of experience in their field. Not someone who barely looked her age. Hanako pushed her red glasses upwards with two fingers, her expression rather neutral. Her brunette hair was neatly combed, and brown eyes were visible through the lens of her glasses. "I developed the medication Weiss took for her condition. Speaking of, how's she doing?" Yang replied, "Uh, she's not dying..." Hanako smiled slightly. "Good, that means it was a success. As for the arm? I already see problems with it. To list them off... First and foremost, it's just a giant piece of metal in the shape of an arm. There's no skeletal structure, no musculature of any kind, and no nervous system. And even if it does have one, it's extremely rudimentary and not at all as nuanced as the real deal."

Hanako's glasses fell a bit before she pushed them up again. "My current project is creating a fully functioning replacement for a missing limb. And I don't mean in a close enough way, I mean, 1-to-1, you won't notice a difference." Yang exclaimed, "That's amazing!" Parallel Yang still seemed somewhat unsure. "But... I don't know, I mean, I've sort of gotten used to this, I don't feel it's truly necessary. I mean, yeah it'd be nice, but-" Hanako replied, "Stop. Not taking no for an answer. Don't give me any BS about how, it's a reminder or something. Besides..." She said with a smile. "Think about it... Once you return home, you can share my genius with everyone in your version of Atlas... Think how much good you'd be doing, how many Huntsmen and Huntresses who've been in your position once, and how much it would help them!"

Parallel Yang thought hard about Hanako's words... "What if your Ruby lost her arm? Would you really want her to be handed a cheap piece of scrap metal for a limb? Or would you want the best for her?" Parallel Yang looked down at the floor and said, "I'd want the best for her..." She looked up, and with every ounce of determination in her, she exclaimed, "I'll do it!"

Hanako said with a sly smile, "I knew you'd see reason..." She said as she walked out of Winter's office. "Something about that girl..." Yang muttered. "I feel like... I feel like I've seen her before." Winter remarked, "Really? Where?" Yang shook her head. "No idea... It's like this weird feeling of deja vu." Parallel Yang said, "Well, that is odd..."

Later that night, Yang made her way to Mistral's harbor. She landed on one of the nearby rooftops, lying low to survey the situation. "Huh... Strange, where's the leader?" Yang asked herself. Then she saw Ruby being kicked out from between two buildings. "Ruby!" She leapt down, Blazing Celica appearing in her hand as she ran towards Ruby. She held her younger sister in her arms, asking, "Ruby, what were you doing here?" Ruby sighed, "I wanted to meet up with you, but she caught me by surprise."

Their foe revealed themselves to the sisters. Ilia Amitola. "They sent kids after me? I thought Atlas was better than this." Her attention turned towards Yang, and more specifically, Blazing Celica. "The only reason she sent you is because you have the Keyblade. I wonder... Could you defeat me without it?" Blazing Celica vanished from Yang's hand as she exclaimed, "A thug like you? Yeah, I don't need the Keyblade to kick your butt."

She soon found herself regretting that decision. Ilia dodged every punch Yang threw her way, before vanishing behind a corner. Yang turned the corner, noticing a few containers of dust. "Show yourself!" Ilia said with a smile, "If you insist.." She struck at Yang with an electrified whip, still blended in with her surroundings. Yang turned in the direction of the strike, charging and going for a punch, only to hit nothing but wall. "Huh?!" She was struck again, and she got the same result the next time, Ilia turning around the next corner. "Coward!" She yelled. Yang was eventually back to the front, facing the docks, when Ilia struck Yang with an extra charged whip strike to the arm.

Pain shot through every last part of her body, her Semblance building rapidly in the process. Yang's eyes started to turn more red as Ilia's electric whip discharged into her, slicing into her right arm partway. Ilia came out of her hiding place as Yang's pupils began to dilate, and the flame-like aura around her started to shrink... But also burn more ferociously and intensely, before it shrunk into her body completely.

 

 

"That was a cheap shot..." Yang said as she got up, the cuts on her rapidly being covered in an orange glow, before the glow vanished, leaving no trace of injury behind. Something about Yang's voice was incredibly off, being accompanied by a slight echo that sounded very little like her usual voice.

 

  
Ilia went for another attack with her whip, only for Yang to flawlessly dodge it. "heh..." She closed in, delivering ferocious uppercut to Ilia's chest. Once more, Ilia attempted, in vain, to attack. "So predictable..." She said tauntingly as she tilted to the side to avoid the next strike. "P-predictable?!" Ilia exclaimed. Yang smugly replied, "Your muscle movements. That's not something you can hide. All I gotta do is watch the way your muscles move, and I know exactly where you're going to move, and where you're going to strike." She pointed at Ilia. "And you designed that Whip to specifically eat through people's aura with its electric properties, didn’t you? I'll admit, though, it's somewhat clever. It's how you got Ruby, isn't it?"

Yang dashed towards Ilia, and stopped inches away from her. A one two punch depleted all of Ilia's aura, with one more delivered to her hip before Yang grabbed her and spun her around. Once she spun Ilia enough, she flung the chameleon faunus into the waters of the Mistralian harbor. Yang made her way to the edge of the docks and sat down, watching as Ilia flailed to the surface. "You can't swim?" She asked. "Well, you'd better learn, I'm not saving you. Come on Ruby, let's go." Yang said as she began to walk away, only to hear a splash. She turned her head, to see Ruby in the water, trying to help Ilia to dry land.

As soon as Yang started to walk towards them as Ruby managed to get both Ilia and herself out of the water, Ruby got in front of Ilia. Yang took one look into her sister's eyes... They were wide, full of panic and fear. "Yang, what's gotten into you?! Please, snap out of it, you're starting to scare me!" Yang's expression quickly changed to one of concern as her eyes and hair returned to normal. "R-Ruby?" She said, her voice now normal.

She looked at Ilia, seeing she was outright terrified now. "P-Please, I-I'll come quietly..." She said, meekly raising her hands into the air in a show of surrender as Winter arrived. "Get her some transport to Atlas..."

  
The morning sun was rising in Atlas as the airship landed. Yang and Winter escorted Ilia, in handcuffs, out of the ship, with Ruby following behind. Yang looked rather apprehensive, as did Ruby. Winter was as calm as ever. They made their way to an interrogation room, having Ilia sit on one side, with Yang and Winter on the other, but Ilia was adamant about not talking. "Fine then... We'll give you some time in a cell, see if you change your mind." Winter said.

Meanwhile, Parallel Yang put her right hand to her forehead, having just gotten out of surgery. To her shock, she actually felt something. "It feels so real... It even looks natural." Hanako pushed her glasses up, giving a confident grin. "Looks like your Aura thing stepped in to assist. Normally it takes a few weeks for it to start being truly effective. You see... The trick with my tech, is that rather than replace it with wires and computers, which tend to do a poor to only passable job, is that my tech is specifically designed to mimic the original as closely as possible. This includes using very special materials. Your aura sped up the process, but even without it, I designed it so over the course of a few weeks, the replacement would start to naturally integrate itself, the recipient's body basically making the replacement a new, permanent, natural part of itself. In fact, over time, while the synthetic material is eaten away, it's replaced by the real deal." Parallel Yang clearly still a bit drowsy, replied, "I'm still feeling the anesthesia, doc, so excuse me if your science went right over my head."

Hanako remarked, "Oh, my apologies, sometimes I get carried away... Anyways, you're free to go." Parallel Yang replied, "Thanks for the hand, doc." As she walked out, Hanako reached into her pocket pulling out a communication device. "Prince Mayu, it's done. I've given my assistance to the Scientists of Atlas. The Schnee will basically be eating out of our hands now. At this rate, she'll gladly play the role of a figurehead for you." Mayu nodded on the other line. "Good work Hanako. I look forward to having strong ties with the Kingdoms of Remnant. Or... Maybe even have it... Annexed into my kingdom." He said with a grin before hanging up.

 

Ilia sighed as she shivered, wondering if General Schnee purposely put her in what had to be the coldest cell in the block. The cold night air Atlas of Atlas wasn't doing her any favors. She heard an odd sound, and saw a flash of light coming from the lock to her cell. She turned around, seeing a boy with blond, spiky hair, and a similar armored shoulder pad to the one Yang was wearing, carrying a blanket. "Uh..." He said nervously. "Sorry, you looked like you were cold." He tossed the blanket in. To Ilia's surprise, it was rather comfortable and warm.

Just as the boy was about to walk away, she asked, "You, human boy... What's your name?" He replied, "Oh... Ventus, but, my friends usually just call me Ven." Ilia remarked, "I see... Let me guess, you're here to interrogate me. You're the good cop." Ventus shook his head. "I guess I was sorta just wondering... Why?"

Ilia, sitting on the bed of her cell, remarked, "You're wondering why I joined the White Fang? Truth is, I... I had a friend in the White Fang, we joined at around the same time, back when they were just a peaceful protest group. But then the leadership changed, and with it, the White Fang's mindset and methods. My friend ended up leaving the group because she disagreed with their increasingly violent methods." She muttered to herself, "To think, Blake's changed so much since then..." Just as Ventus was about to ask further questions, she politely said, "I'm sorry, but, I would like to be left alone." Ventus obliged, but he had overheard her last statement about Blake. But just before he walked out, he held his Keyblade up and said, “Curaga.” Ilia felt a tingling sensation in her hip as the pain seemed to magically exit her body. She sat there, her hip now at least not broken, pondering the boy’s kindness.


	13. Chapter 13

"We need to talk." Parallel Yang said sternly. "I heard about your fight yesterday... You got, like, waaaaay overconfident." Yang crossed her arms. "I was gonna start using the Keyblade..." She pouted. "I would've had her, then again I... Think I got her?" She said, clutching her head. "My memory is sorta fuzzy about that."

 

Ruby said, "Yeeeeeah, I didn't tell you... Yang started, I don't know, being all scary, her voice had some sort of echo, and suddenly Ilia couldn't land a single hit, it was like Yang could read her mind. Then Yang broke her hip and tossed her into the water, and... Yang was about to leave her... I'm sorry Yang, I don't know what came over me, you were going to let her drown, and... I had to do something!"

 

Yang held her hand towards Ruby, "I should be the one saying they didn't know what came over them. I'd taken damage and all of a sudden, I-I don't know, it was like something inside my head just burst out and... Suddenly, it was like my brain kicked into overdrive. But at the same time... Looking back, I didn't feel completely like myself... What happened?" Her mind flashed back something Verdan, the young Spring Maiden, had said. "Now that you mention it, your Aura is actually a bit strange. Like... A small piece of someone else is mixed in with it. A piece that has yet to be made fully your own."

 

At that very moment, Verdan came in, holding a bunch of flowers. "Yang?" She stopped when she saw Parallel Yang. "Um... Hi... Yang?" She said awkwardly. "Awwwww... Who's this sweet widdle thing?" Parallel Yang cooed. Yang replied, "Oh, her? That's Verdan. She's the Spring Maiden. I'm looking after her." She picked Verdan up, sitting the small maiden on her lap. "I... I was listening in on your conversation. I'm sorry." She said meekly. Parallel Yang took that as a cue to shift the subject. "I think we're overdue that sparring match... Hand to hand, how about it?" Yang nodded, "Y-yeah, that sounds good."

 

Their punches collided, both of them feeling the recoil in their right arms as the rays of the afternoon sun shone down on them. "Uh... Wow. You've... Gotten sloppy. I'm guessing that Keyblade's taken up all your skill?" Yang remarked, "Well uh, I... Kinda don't have Ember Celica anymore. Every time I try to fight without the Keyblade it just feels... Wrong to me without ol' Ember."

 

Yang summoned her Keyblade, raising it into the air. "I like you and everything, but... Sometimes, I just miss the old way of doing things..." Parallel Yang exclaimed, "I'm amazed at your blade skills, but... Your hand to hand skills have suffered. If my dad were here, he'd be telling you that you should keep them both sharp. I honestly don't think I'd have recovered as well as I have without him, let alone keep my skills as sharp as they are."

 

Yang sat down, putting a hand to her forehead. "Sorry, I'm just... Still a bit bothered by the other day... Just what was that about? I just remember that... Sudden rush, that I felt after that last hit, and..." Verdan, who had been watching the whole thing, gasped, shouting, "YANG! IT'S YOUR SEMBLANCE!" Yang turned to the young maiden, saying, "My... Semblance?" Verdan nodded, seeming somewhat frantic. "That has to be it! Remember how I said your aura had a small piece of someone else mixed in? That's a piece of someone else's soul! Your Semblance is causing that piece to act up."

 

Yang's eyes widened, "W-who's is it?!" She asked, on the verge of panic. "Um, it feels reeeeeeally weird... Like, it's not human or faunus from what I can tell." Yang muttered, "Mayu..." She sat there, clearly haunted by the fact.

 

"Other me..." Parallel Yang said softly. "Look at me..." Yang got up, still holding onto Blazing Celica, but avoiding her counterpart's gaze. "look at me!" She yelled, her eyes turning red and the signature fiery glow surrounding her. "Don't you dare go having crisis of identity right now! You're still me! I'll prove it!" She held her right arm out, and what seemed to be another Blazing Celica appeared in her hand. "Look at this! I was not able to do this until I came to your timeline." Yang exclaimed, "B-But... How?!" Parallel Yang smiled, "It's not obvious? I'm you, remember? The fact we can both wield it means that, fundamentally, we're the same person, just... We're different versions of each other. With some nuances and differences here and there." She moved her right arm for emphasis.

 

Yang stood up, her eyes finally returning to normal, grinning. "So uh... Want to learn how to use it?" Parallel Yang stared wide-eyed at her counterpart, before shooting back with her own grin. "Sure, let's do it!"

  
Meanwhile, in Atlas, Penny was helping around the labs. She was the only one present in the lab at the moment, sweeping the floors. She looked at picture of Ironwood on the desk. She gave what an observer would say was a sad sigh.

 

Winter was going over criminal records, when she received a call. "Ruby? I bet she's bothering me about Merlot... I swear, where haven't we looked?" She answered anyways, ready to end the call at a moment's notice. "Can I... Get in touch with Penny? I haven't gotten any word from her in days..." Winter sighed, "I didn't think an android could even get moody. Still, she's just an android at the end of the day, she'll probably get over it. Now, if you'll excuse me... I have something else that is very important to deal with, so if you would leave me alone, that would be appreciated."

 

She ended the call, folding her hands on her desk. "Emerald Sustrai... You are facing very serious charges right now. You could even be put to death." Emerald replied, "Wait, I didn't think Atlas had the death penalty... Does it?" Winter said with a smile, "Depends... I have a deal for you... If you help me out, that is." She opened up her private scroll, which showed criminal records of everyone arrested by Atlas officials. She hovered her finger over a small corner of the screen on Cinder's profile. "My hand may just... Slip while going over your records." Options appeared. One of them being "Delete." Emerald eyed Winter suspiciously. "wait a minute. I just do one thing for you... And you would delete my ENTIRE Criminal Record? All of it?"

 

Winter replied, "that's right. Though not so much one thing as giving me information." Emerald listened to Winter's plan attentively. "Do we have a deal?" Emerald weighed her options. Walk out a free woman for doing a small favor? Or die? The answer couldn't have been more obvious. "I'll do it..." Winter switched over to Emerald's records. "We already know what you were up to, thanks to a certain someone, but there are things only you would know. Has Cinder's behaviour been... Unusual to you prior to Vytal? Almost like... Someone else?" 

 

"So then Ruby was like, now THAT'S a katana!" Aqua started laughing as Yang and Parallel Yang landed in the courtyard on Yang's glider, with Parallel Yang driving it. "Yeah, it's... A little tricky to steer at first, it can be a bit stubborn." Yang remarked. Jaune exclaimed, "Oh, Uh... Yang 2? Aqua's finally up." Parallel Yang held out her right arm. "Latest Atlas tech." She said. "Anyways, nice to finally see you up. I've been hanging around with my other self, sure, but you're part of the reason I'm here."

 

Jaune replied, "Well uh... I mean, Aqua's been, teaching me a few things..." A streak of pink light flew right past Jaune, before heading into one of the lampposts nearby and spinning around. "WOO-HOO! THIS IS TOTALLY AMAZING!" Speeding away from the lampost, the pink light faded as Nora slowed down in front of Jaune. "Oh my gosh, Yang? You have GOT to learn this, it is SO. MUCH. FUN!" Jaune only had one question to ask. "Why? Just... Aqua, why?" Somewhere within the halls of Beacon, Glynda shuddered, like something truly terrifying had been unleashed upon the world of Remnant.

 

Later that night, Jaune had made his way to the rooftop, where Aqua was waiting. "You sure about this, Jaune?" Aqua asked. Jaune replied fondly, "Pyrrha and I used to have training sessions up here, it's fine." Aqua took on her usual fighting stance. Not that she was really going to be attacking Jaune seriously, or much at all. She smiled fondly and closed her eyes, remembering her sparring matches with Terra, under the watchful eye of Master Eraqus. "to think, Master... You turned Terra down as a Master... He's certainly more worthy of it than me..."

 

Aqua's eyelids rapidly opened at a taunting voice. "All you'll end up doing is bringing them pain... You should've never been chosen to wield the Keyblade" Where Jaune was, Phantom Aqua was currently standing. "Just give up... The worlds are better off without you." Aqua yelled out, "I'M GETTING REAL SICK OF LISTENING TO YOU!" She began a savage assault, a Firaga spell's explosion sending the phantom off the roof.

  
In reality, "Phantom Aqua" was really Jaune, who had landed with a loud thud on the ground below, near the statue, thankful his aura held out. "Okay... That was... Unexpected. Was it something I said?" Jaune looked up, only to find himself moments later being pinned to the ground by Aqua's knee pressing against his chest. He looked up at his attacker, seeing the fury in her eyes. "A-Aqua, you said you would go easy!" Jaune exclaimed. Then he saw Aqua raise her Keyblade. "Aqua? What are you doing?" Aqua screamed, "YOU WON'T HAUNT ME ANYMORE, PHANTOM! GO AWAY!" With one swift movement, she plunged her Keyblade into Jaune's chest. Jaune's eyes widened, seeing darkness coming from Aqua.

 

Once she was done, she got up, angrily looking down at the defeated phantom. Then Aqua could felt her heart sink at the horrifying sight. "J-Jaune?" Aqua screamed, "JAUNE!" She looked around frantically, hyperventilating as Ozpin came to the scene. "What in the world? Aqua, what did you do?" Aqua continued hyperventilating, pretty much any ability to speak coherently gone as Ozpin inspected Jaune. "Relax, he's not dead... Though you basically shattered his heart into pieces. But he's not completely beyond hope of recovery. Or at least, I hope not..."

  
"Welp. This is it, huh?" Jaune said. Or... He heard himself say, he didn't feel his lips move. All he saw was a fading light in an endless black void. All he felt was a sensation of falling. "Is this what dying feels like? Or is it... Something else?" He felt his eyelids starting to grow heavy, eternal sleep beckoning to him... But then he heard a familiar voice. "Jaune! Can you hear me? It's pretty bad in here." Jaune, again, his lips didn't move, but his voice resonated through the void. "Pyrrha?" He couldn't move his head to look around, but he felt himself slow down. "Jaune, listen closely... You've felt it... A little bit of aura along with my heart?" Jaune replied, "I-I think so... Now I'm feeling it..." He heard Pyrrha say, "Good... I have an idea. Your heart's basically in pieces, your aura itself was also damaged... I-I'm not sure what will happen, it's a big risk, but... I'm going to try and see if I can join my heart and aura with yours."

 

Jaune's eyes shot open. He exclaimed, "W-what?!" Pyrrha replied, "I know it's probably risky, and who knows what could happen. But we have to try!" Jaune couldn't nod, but Pyrrha could tell he was saying yes. "Just rest for now, Jaune..." Pyrrha's voice rang as Jaune drifted into sleep.


	14. Chapter 14

Jaune woke up in Beacon's infirmary, and the first thing he saw were his teammates. Along with Ruby, Weiss, and Yang. Nora exclaimed, "Jaune! You're up!" Yang held up a smiling Verdan. "I thought you were a goner, even with my powers. I only helped a little bit honestly, you could say the rest was... An inside job." She said. She looked around expectantly. Only Jaune smiled. "S-sorry, I'm just gonna... Go back to sleep..."

 

Yang exclaimed, "We're losing him again!" Jaune's teammates called out his name, as a localized flash of light obscured him. Once it cleared up, in his place, was Pyrrha. Pyrrha looked down, and screamed, "WHAT THE- HOW DID I?!" She heard Jaune yawning in her head. "Hey, uh... Keep it down, I'm trying to get some rest..."

 

Pyrrha got out of the bed, cautiously approaching her teammates. "I-is this real? Am I dreaming?" She touched Nora's face gently.Ozpin walked into the infirmary, and on sight of Pyrrha, dropped his mug. "Miss Nikos?" Everyone looked expectantly at Ozpin. And for once? Ozpin had to admit it. "I'm just as clueless as everyone else here."

 

Verdan had her eyes closed. "Give me a moment..." She said, focusing on Pyrrha's aura. "Uh... This is odd. I am getting two auras... Joined in some way, but distinct. One more prominent than the other..." Pyrrha heard Jaune ask in her head. "h-hang on, what's she talking about, what's going on? More importantly, what's even going on here?" Pyrrha felt her consciousness being pulled inward, and the same light from before covered her, before dissipating and revealing Jaune in her place. "Okay, so much for a little extra shuteye."

Verdan remarked, "And now the prominence just switched." Nora looked deep in thought. "wait, so... You guys can, like, switch places or something?" Jaune clutched at his head. "Looks like it. Can someone get Aqua over here, let her know I'm okay?" Ozpin said slyly, "Sure. In exchange... I think you should learn to utilize your new ability."

  
Meanwhile, Emerald had stayed overnight in one of the empty dorms. the fact they were locked was no big deal, and a supposedly locked dorm made the perfect hiding place. With everyone distracted with something, she made her way toward the front entrance of Beacon to make her exit. She closed her eyes, and took a deep sigh of relief that the coast seemed to be clear. Once she opened her eyes, she found everything around her looking... Much larger than before. "Uh..." She found herself being pinched, ready to use her Semblance to make a distraction to escape. That plan immediately went out the window, and she defaulted to panic. "WHEN DID YOU GET SO HUGE?!"

She exclaimed towards Yang, or rather, Parallel Yang accomponied by Aqua, who at this point, positively towered over her, a single finger being larger than Emerald. "I recognize you from the tournament, you were with that Cinder chick! What do you think you're doing here?" Yang exclaimed Emerald crossed her arms, turned away. "I'm not telling you anything."

 

Aqua remarked innocently. "You know, at your current size, you look kind of like a breath mint if I squint..." Aqua held the small Emerald uncomfortably close to her face at eye level. Emerald's eyes widened with pure horror. "Or one of those little green toothbrush shaped things Zwei sometimes chews on." Parallel Yang added. Emerald started flailing around, screaming "OKAY, I'LL TALK, JUST MAKE ME NORMAL SIZED AGAIN, PLEASE! I DON'T WANT TO END UP IN SOME MUTT'S MOUTH, AND I'D CERTAINLY PREFER TO NOT END UP IN SOMEONE'S STOMACH!"

 

Parallel Yang smiled, A reversing the Mini spell she had cast on Emerald. As Emerald returned to normal size, she gasped for breath, exclaiming, "It was General Winter, she put me up to it! She said if I didn't she'd kill me!" Parallel Yang exclaimed, "Winter?! Weiss's sister? Why?!" Emerald took a fearful step back, yelling, "I-I don't know why! She didn't tell me! She just said she'd let me go free if I gave her information and spied on Aqua! I had nothing to do with her freakout yesterday! I swear!" 

Parallel Yang came into the room along with Aqua, with the utterly terrified Emerald following behind them. Parallel Yang gave her a glance, Blazing Celica pointing upwards, prompting Emerald to confess in front of everyone.

"She came here earlier and talked to me... She said... That... She would be happy to take the Keyblade off my hands. That she would make good use of it and use it to ensure peace and prosperity. Maybe she's right... Maybe I really shouldn't be wielding it..." Parallel Yang stomped her foot on the ground. "Aqua, she set this whole thing up! And you know what, I think it's been made extremely clear why she framed you in the first place! She just wants it for herself!"

Ozpin sighed, "She always did have a certain sense of duty... I suppose being made General on such short notice has only made it stronger. But to think she'd go so far that she would want the Keyblade..." Parallel Yang sighed, "Just how much farther will she go? Is there any way to make her see reason?" Yang summoned Blazing Celica. "I'll be more than happy to knock her down a few pegs." Weiss held her arm out in front of Yang. "I'll do it. She's my sister... I have to be the one to call her out for everything." Yang shrugged her shoulders. "I'm still going, you need a ride after all."

As Yang flew off with Weiss to confront Winter, Emerald tried to sneak out of the room, only for her to stop when she saw Parallel Yang, and Jaune practicing his new ability, switching places with Pyrrha. Emerald was speechless for a moment. Once she was finally able to form a coherent thought, she screamed, "I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS!"

 

"Ah, Mayu, back so soon?" Winter turned around, seeing an angry Weiss. "W-Weiss?! I'm sorry I haven't really talked to you lately, I've been so busy." Weiss got straight to the point. "Winter, how could you?!" She screamed. "HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO SOMEONE?! Do you realize how badly she's been messed up because of you? You brand her a criminal, then you make her attack someone with that Emerald girl! I can't believe you! How could you stoop so low?!" Winter narrowed her eyes, remaining calm and rational. "Emerald was just supposed to spy on her! Aqua herself proved to you she's unstable!" Weiss yelled, "What _you've_ proven, is that you're starting to become a complete psychopath!"

 

 

Winter slammed her fist on her desk. "Weiss, it's for your own good. For the good of Atlas! You've seen it first hand... The power of the Keyblade... And just how utterly amazing it is. With its power, I could see to it Atlas and its future couldn't be more secure." Weiss did the unthinkable, slapping her sister. "Listen to yourself Winter! I'll bet Mayu's just been using you this whole team as part of a whole revenge scheme against-" Winter interjected with another slam of her fist. "You act like he's like Roman, or Cinder, or even the White Fang! He's not, Weiss!"

 

She looked down dejectedly at her desk. "You don't understand how difficult it was for me, trying to live up to James's legacy, at the same time trying to keep what little good name we have left intact, Weiss. Mayu, he came in, he listened to me. He offered me guidance, gave me all the info we have on the Nobodies."

 

She chuckled sadly. "It might sound stupid, or maybe just crazy but... He was honestly more of a father to me than our own father, Weiss." Weiss shook her head and raised her voice as she spoke. "Let me guess, it was his idea to frame her? Why would you go along with it? TELL ME!"

 

Winter sighed, "because if the truth got out, the Schnee name would be ruined forever..." Weiss asked, "Are you saying that..." Winter nodded slowly. "It was our father... He wanted James out of the way to seize more power in Atlas... If the truth got out, like I said, our name would be ruined beyond repair. And I didn't want people to treat you even more like a criminal than they already do. Mayu offered me a solution... Pin the blame on someone who already had blood on their hands. Namely, Aqua. That way at least some kind of justice would be done while James's real killer was dealt with in private, out of the public eye. Obtaining the Keyblade didn't come to my mind until a little later, honestly."

 

Weiss shook her head in disgust. "I can't believe you, Winter... James would be ashamed of you... Come on Yang, let's go. Though if you feel the need to punch her, feel free to..." Yang looked like she was seriously contemplating it. "She's not worth it. Let's just leave her."

  
Winter pleaded, "Weiss, I did this partially for you! Would you rather be treated as a common criminal solely because of your name?!" Weiss shook her head. "Part of my dream was to repair the damage he'd done to our family name. He needs to face charges, and we need to be the ones to bring what he's done to light... Winter, if you're really my sister... You'll help me. We'll see he's brought to justice, and you know what? We'll prove to the world we're not like him. Let him drag his own name through the mud. We don't have to be dragged along with him." She turned towards Yang. "Let's go, Yang. If she's not going to help, I'm going to bring that bastard down myself." She said. Before she could walk out, Winter spoke up. "Thanks Weiss... And you have my support."

 

Meanwhile, Emerald was getting answers to her many questions. "That guy blondie fought in the Semi-Finals instead of Mercury like we had planned... Is some kind of alien prince? And he later ended up taking blondie's body? Yeah, forgive me if that sounds just a little bit ridiculous... In fact, who ratted out our plans to begin with?!" Ozpin shook his head. "Maleficent, I'm guessing. And not for nice reasons at all. Cinder was so used to being in control of the situation... Who knows how she'd react to losing that control. She might've even turned into a Heartless."

Pyrrha and Emerald asked in unison. "A Heartless?" Ozpin sighed. "Oh, this is going to be long day... We might want to go to Port's classroom, because you'll all need to sit down for this one."

  
The impromptu lecture was mostly stuff everyone present except Pyrrha and Emerald knew. About the Heartless, how they're created, the various kinds of Heartless, as well as the Nobodies, and the varieties of them, ranging from the simple Dusk, to the dangerous Dancer, to the ferocious Berserkers.

 

"Miss Belladonna, on the other hand... Is a very special and rare type of Nobody. If you'll notice, unlike the ones you have seen so far, her appearance has hardly changed." He messed around with the projector, which then projected an image of 13 individuals in black coats. "These types of Nobodies are the highest ranking ones, and the most dangerous and powerful of them all. A group of such Nobodies once formed a group known as Organization XIII. I can't say for certain what their plans were, only that we need not worry, seeing as how they were stopped."

 

Winter sat at her desk, clutching her head. She opened a drawer, pulling out a photo of herself and Weiss many years ago, back when Weiss was just a little girl. She sighed, before putting it back in. The she found a portrait of Jacques... She smiled, tossing it into the trash can next to her desk. She remembered how her last meeting with Mayu went.

 

_"General, Prince Mayu is here to see you." Came the voice from the speaker on her desk. Winter smiled, pressing the button. "Send him in."_

 

_Mayu walked into the office, hanging up the black coat he wore for disguise. "Where did you get that anyways?" Mayu shrugged as he sat in the chair across from Winter. "I had it made it for me. Same material as the ones the Organization used to wear." Underneath the coat, Mayu was wearing clothes similar to Yang's huntress outfit. "Excuse me for not coming in wearing something more formal." Winter, without really thinking, made sure the papers on her desk were neatly stacked as she said, "It's alright, I wouldn't expect you to come in wearing some sort of royal gown."_

 

_She stopped, her brain trying to find a way to phrase what she was about to say._ _"I don't remember the last time I called my actual father, dad. In fact... I actually have a bit of a confession to make... You've been more of a father to me, than that man ever was."_

_Mayu nervously chuckled. "Uh... That's... That's great, but, uh... You realize I'm younger than you, right?" Winter buried her face in her hands out of embarrassment. "Trust me, I realize that. That just makes this even more awkward..."_

_Mayu sighed, saying after moments of awkward silence. "Let's just hope my mother doesn't learn of this... I'd never heard the end of it." Winter replied, "Her, and Qrow. If that drunken idiot ever learns about this little slip up... He'd never let me live it down. Let's uh... Keep that little sentiment between us, okay?" Mayu nodded. "Agreed."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: I originally planned on Pyrrha staying dead.
> 
> The idea behind the Jaune and Pyrrha dynamic was sorr of inspired by an anime called Birdy the Mighty. Which I would recommend, it's a great show. 
> 
> Also, Parallel Yang's apparently been taking lessons from either her other self, or Aqua. Don't worry, she wouldn't have done what Emerald thought she was going to do.


End file.
